Universal Credit was officially launched, on a very small scale, at the end of last month in Ashton-under-Lyne. It merges several benefits and tax credits into 1 monthly pay-out, not let it be noted weekly. IDS is keen to tell the public that 3 million people will gain, though for some reason he forgets to add that on the government’s own impact assessment 2.8 million people will lose. Somehow he’s also forgotten to tell you that the cuts have taken place even before Universal Credit starts – cuts to housing benefit, the bedroom tax, cuts to working tax credit and child tax credit, and the replacement of Council Tax with local schemes that often involve people losing £200 a year. That’s just for starters.
Michael Meacher MP
