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Leeds man living on £7 a day pleads with government not to cut Universal Credit

The uplift is worth £1,040 a year to around 6 million Universal Credit claimants, many of whom are in low-paid jobs

Georgina Pellant - 29th September 2021

A man from Leeds who's currently living on less than £7 a day has begged the government not to cut Universal Credit payments down to pre-pandemic levels.

The £20 weekly top-up payment for those claiming Universal Credit was introduced by the government to help people, but now ministers are insisting that it be stopped.

Matthew held a position as a sales manager for 8 years, but everything went wrong for him after being illegally evicted from his home shortly after losing his position - at which point he discovered that the existing safety net provided to tax payers by the DWP is minimal.

Instead, he relied on charities and the church to help get him back on his feet. With their help, he managed to get back into having a nice house to live in, but he says he's still been unable to find work.

He told Leeds Live that he feels that there should be more financial support to help get people back into training, not less - saying that living on £50 a week is "impossible at the moment."

“I already don’t pay for my gas, I already cut it out.

“That extra £20 doesn’t seem like a lot but to me it is.”

Saying he is not currently looking for work because he's "trying to survive every day" he added that with a "bit of support, counselling back into work I could quite easily get back into work."

The benefit uplift that ministers want to cut is worth £1,040 a year to around 6 million Universal Credit claimants, many of whom are in low-paid jobs, at a cost to the government of around £6bn a year.

Charities, think tanks and unions across the country have warned against removing the uplift on 6 October, explaining that it will hit some of the poorest families the hardest at a time when energy bills are set to soar and the furlough scheme is coming to an end - which will likely push more people into unemployment.

They have also argued that it could hit the UK's coronavirus recovery, as it will mean millions losing dispoable income for spending on essentials.

All of this means that Rishi Sunak is coming under increasing pressure this week to u-turn on his decision to abandon the benefit uplift after many people have spoken out in defense of those in need, like Matthew.

Fellow minister Grant Shapps attempted to defend Sunak's decision this week but was ridiculed after he wrongly claimed that keeping the uplift would cost “several pennies” on income tax.

However, it was revealed that his claim regarding the cost of keeping the benefit uplift was several times higher than the official figure. HMRC figures have shown that if the chancellor decided to fund the tax this way it would cost less than 1%.

Feature image - Matthew Jeffrey