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City MP slams the government for pushing ahead with Universal Credit cut that will impact local families

Stephen Morgan has demanded the government ‘cancels the cut’ after the Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey MP, confirmed this week that the Government is continuing with the planned £20 Universal Credit cut in September.

Labour had consistently called on the Government not to cut Universal Credit in April 2021, culminating in the Cancel the Cut Opposition Day Debate in January 2021, where the House of Commons voted in favour of keeping the £20 uplift.

In the Budget in March, the Chancellor announced a 6-month extension to the uplift until the end of September 2021.

Labour is calling on the Government to cancel the cut and keep the uplift permanent.

This cut will impact 6 million families, including those on working tax credits. This £20 is what enables some of them to put food on the table at the end of the week.

In Portsmouth, the number of people claiming Universal Credit has risen by nearly 10,000 over the last year, from 8,262 to 18,012. An increase of 118%.

The Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan, commented,

“Government is trying to make low income families pay for its own chronic mismanagement of the pandemic and the economic recovery.

“Universal Credit and its earlier uplift during the height of the pandemic was a lifeline for so many in our city.

“Pulling the rug from underneath struggling families just at the time when the economy begins to recover is not only morally backward, but economically too, choking off any shoots of recovery we would see if the government cancelled the cut.

“I will continue to work on behalf of the local families and secure the support they need after this incredibly difficult time.”