SHEFFIELD STOP AND SCRAP UNIVERSAL CREDIT!
Replace it with a fair benefits system that lifts families out of poverty
Sheffield Stop & Scrap, c/o Sheffield TUC, Trades and Labour Club, 200 Duke Street, Sheffield S2 5QQ
Press release Tuesday 5th October
Protest against £20 Cut to Universal Credit
12 noon till 1pm outside DWP HQ, Hartshead S1 2FD Wednesday 6th October
Tories’ £20 cut hits 6 million claimants from today, 6th October
40% of UC claimants are in work, struggling to survive on low pay
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Low paid workers on Universal Credit could be £1700 worse off
- £20 cut per week = £1000 per year
- National Insurance hike for low paid workers = £150 per year
- Fuel, heating and other inflation costs = estimated £600 per year
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We demand a fairer welfare system that lifts families out of poverty
UK is 6th wealthiest nation, so we CAN afford it!
Sheffield Trade Union Council will be joining campaigners against poverty and welfare rights activists outside DWP HQ on Hartshead (nr Bank Street and behind High Street). “We will be saying loud and clear we condemn this vicious £20 cut to Universal Credit which comes into effect today and will cause desperate hardship to Sheffield families already struggling on low or no pay” said Martin Mayer Secretary of Sheffield Trade Union Council.
Olivier de Shutter, UN rapporteur on extreme poverty, says the cut is “deliberately regressive” and will trigger “an explosion of poverty”. He said it breaches international human rights law and called on the Government to justify its actions under the treaty.
The Sheffield Stop and Scrap Universal Credit campaign believes Universal Credit is rotten to the core and cannot be reformed. It should be scrapped and replaced with a fair social security system that fully supports citizens on low or no incomes. It’s not just the appalling low level of benefits:
- The 5-week wait for benefits is inhumane and impossible for new claimants with no income
- The sanctions regime is punitive and deprives some claimants of any benefit for months for the most trivial of reasons
- The household cap, the bedroom tax and other restrictions are unfair and unjust
The campaign fully supports DWP workers who are PCS union members administering the system. “We stand in solidarity with PCS members who are struggling under massive workloads and who have had to endure yet another pay freeze this year,” said Martin Mayer. “They want to provide a better service and support claimants but are stopped by a target-driven DWP management. DWP is short staffed by over 30,000 nationally. 13,500 temporary staff taken on during the pandemic should be made permanent,” he added.
“Our welfare system is the meanest in Europe” said Martin Mayer “and no other country has tens of thousands of citizens queuing at food banks to survive. Those numbers are about to grow massively. Shame on UK. Shame on this Tory Government,” said Martin Mayer. “We are not going away – we will hold this Government to account for its merciless attack on those least able to afford it”
Ends
Editors:
Journalists are welcome to attend and report on this event. Alternatively, please contact Martin Mayer for comment on 0776 107 8482