Tag Archives: universal credit

19 May 2020 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 19th May 2020 - 10:30 pm

Govt must not be allowed to forget unacceptable five week wait for UC
Govt must get a grip on coronavirus crisis to prevent further deaths
Govt needs to get a grip of care home crisis
Govt pledges to look into Lib Dems’ Mental Health plan for NHS & care staff
Lib Dems oppose Govt’s Trade Bill
Govt must request an extension to the transition period now

Govt must not be allowed to forget unacceptable five week wait for UC

Responding to ONS statistics out today which reveal a rise in unemployment and a six fold increase in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit, Acting Leader of …

Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged Alistair Carmichael, brexit, care homes, coronavirus, ed davey, munira wilson, sarah olney, trade bill and transition period | 1 Comment

Jane Dodds writes: No going back to business as usual

By Jane Dodds | Tue 21st April 2020 - 11:45 am

Covid-19 has caused the biggest economic shock of modern times. The Government has announced a range of measures to support businesses and the self-employed, in particular through putting in place strong incentives to keep staff on the payroll. Nearly a million people applied for Universal Credit in March – and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for the Government to scrap the five-week wait. We need to get money into people’s pockets now.

But we need to think beyond the emergency. Economic recovery could be slow and painful, and the most difficult time for families and businesses – especially the small businesses in the economic front line – may be when the lockdown is over and the short-term, time-limited measures announced by the Treasury fall away. Our family businesses are at the heart of our communities, and we need to ensure they bounce back stronger and more resilient than before. These shops and businesses will only recover if their customers have money to spend once the lockdown ends.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged Covid-19, universal basic income and Wales | 32 Comments

What we should now be calling for

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Sun 22nd March 2020 - 12:16 pm

Embed from Getty Images

On Friday afternoon Rishi Sunak announced that the government would pay up to 80% of wages up to £2500 a month. That is £30,000 a year. He hopes that HMRC will be able to pay all the grants applied for by the end of April. Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans will be available from Monday. Hopefully this will mean that every employer will be able to get the money they need to pay their workers up to £576.92 a week.

He has restored the value of the Local Housing Allowance to the 30^th percentile of local rents: the reduced rate from 2011. (It had been the 50^th percentile before this.)

However, he is not doing enough for those having to claim benefits. He is only increasing some benefits by £1000 a year (£19.23 a week). A single person’s Universal Credit is increasing from £73.34 a week to £92.57 a week and from 6^th April it will be £93.82 a week. Statutory Sick Pay is currently £94.25 a week rising to £95.85 from 6^th April.

While the help for those who are still being employed is adequate, it is inadequate for those who are going to have to rely on benefits. The party must call for more to be done for these people.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged local housing allowance and rishi sunak | 38 Comments

12 February 2019 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Tue 12th February 2019 - 11:25 pm

Digital exclusion shows Universal Credit not fit for purpose

Responding to reports that almost half a million people needed help to apply for the government’s flagship Universal Credit benefit online, DWP Spokesperson Christine Jardine said:

The Liberal Democrats raised the issue of digital exclusion with Conservative ministers months ago, but these concerns clearly haven’t been taken on board. This underlines the need to look again at Universal Credit, which is clearly not creating the simpler and more accessible benefits system that was intended.

It is failing the very people it was supposed to be designed to help. Now the Government has acknowledged

…

Posted in News | Also tagged brexit, christine jardine, digital exclusion, driving licence, jenny randerson, mental capacity act and norman lamb | 1 Comment

11 February 2019 – today’s press releases (part 2)

By Mark Valladares | Mon 11th February 2019 - 11:59 pm

And here’s the rest…

Lib Dems: Defence Secretary showboating with ‘hard power’ rhetoric
Lib Dems: Tory Govt prepared to sacrifice people to the electric chair
Govt Universal Credit admission is too late for tens of thousands
Lib Dems: Govt must ensure dinosaur MPs can’t obstruct legislation

Lib Dems: Defence Secretary showboating with ‘hard power’ rhetoric

In his speech “Transforming UK Defence to Meet the Global Threats of Tomorrow”, Gavin Williamson today confirmed that aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is to be deployed to the Pacific region.

Commenting on this move Liberal Defence Spokesperson Jamie Stone said:

Gavin Williamson is heating up UK defence rhetoric, something which may well

…

Posted in News | Also tagged brian paddick, christine jardine, death penalty, defence strategy, female genital mutilation, jamie stone, parliamentary procedure and wera hobhouse | 6 Comments

Alleviating poverty in our country. How should Liberal Democrats aim to help?

By Katharine Pindar | Sun 27th January 2019 - 8:55 am

Should Universal Credit simply be abolished? That’s not our policy. .Perhaps we should replace it with a new benefit, National Credit, as suggested here recently by Michael BG. But how about abolishing the Department for Work and Pensions?

That is the radical idea just advanced by a man who worked in national mental health policy for more than ten years, and who latterly was seconded to the DWP for 18 months to advise on mental health across a range of policy issues.

Tom Pollard of the think-tank Demos has written a short paper, Pathways from Poverty: A case for institutional reform, published by Demos this month. He writes that the Government should consider abolishing the department after its failure to help ill and disabled people out of poverty. He maintains that the DWP is “institutionally and culturally incapable of making the reforms needed to deliver better outcomes for society’s most vulnerable.”

Referencing the post-war Beveridge social contract, he declares that modern governments have failed to deliver a parallel radical agenda. Specifically, he complains that the DWP has a ‘benefit lens’ where case-handlers perceive employment as a condition for receiving benefits, rather than as a means for enabling claimants to pursue fulfilling work. Speaking at a recent Demos discussion with industry experts and senior parliamentarians, he maintained that for many claimants the problems were not a question of their motivation, but of their disability or illness that impeded their securing work.

His conclusions recall points made by the UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, whose hard-hitting report was discussed in LDV articles on November19 and 28 and December 2.

Philip Alston observed a ‘command and control’ approach to Universal Credit which imposed harsh sanctions which the evidence tended to show were counter-productive. He too referred to elements of the Beveridge contract having been overturned, inflicting misery on the poor and the disabled. While discussing practical needs such as the restoration of local authority services, with the viewpoint of a compassionate outsider he also deplored what he saw as a decline in British traditional values of compassion and concern for everyone.

Posted in News | Also tagged poverty and social security | 35 Comments

11 January 2019 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 11th January 2019 - 10:45 pm

Time to take a deep breath, and work out who the Government is. Is it the centre-right modernists, led by Amber Rudd? Is it the opportunistic wannabes, led by Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt? Or, is Theresa May in office but not in power? Hard to tell from the outside.

But there are still other things ticking over, and there are issues way beyond Brexit, as today’s press releases show…

Causes of mental ill-health in schools must be tackled
Lib Dems: Penny has dropped with Hunt
Lib Dems: UC needs investment, not just reform
Lib Dems: Pigs more likely to fly than Brexit legislation to

…

Posted in News | Also tagged brexit, child and adolescent mental health services, christine jardine, layla moran and tom brake | 3 Comments

6 December 2018 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Thu 6th December 2018 - 11:35 pm

You begin to sense the uncertainty emanating from Whitehall, but there’s plenty going on elsewhere in the governance jungle…

Brexit plans could lead to European Windrush scandal
Mental Health Review must lead to more investment
Universal Credit Causing Housing Crisis – Welsh Lib Dems

Brexit plans could lead to European Windrush scandal

Responding to the Department for Exiting the EU’s policy paper on Citizens’ Rights, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Ed Davey said:

The Government has finally admitted that free movement of labour won’t end this March.

The fact they tried to sneak this out shows yet again that people can’t trust anything this

…

Posted in News | Also tagged brexit, ed davey, immigration act, jane dodds, joe carter, mental health, norman lamb and Wales | Leave a comment

What policies should we have in response to the UN report on UK poverty?

By Michael Berwick-Gooding | Wed 28th November 2018 - 7:35 am

I am suggesting a replacement for Universal Credit.

We have discussed recently on LDV <https://www.libdemvoice.org/not-even-a-tin-of-baked-beans-a-visitor-shows-the-need-for-radical-reforms-59181.html> the report by Philip Alston the UN’s Special Rapporteur on poverty and human rights on poverty in the UK <https:www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/EOM_GB_16Nov2018.pdf>.

He points out that 14 million people in the UK are living in poverty, 4 million of them 50% below the poverty line and 1.5 million are destitute. How can we be letting this happen when we are the fifth wealthiest country in the world?

It is recognised that Universal Credit is a contributory factor in causing people to live below the poverty line. Therefore we should scrap it and restore all the pre-2012 benefits including the national Council Tax Benefit. We should introduce a new benefit, National Credit, to replace Tax Credits for people in work. We are already committed to restoring the pre-2016 work allowances to Universal Credit. The pre-2016 work allowances should apply to the new benefit: we should go further and increase them for those without another eligibility status so a single person can keep the first £30 a week and the second earner £20.

The taper for the new benefit should be 63%. Everyone receiving the new benefit will automatically be eligible for Housing Benefit if they pay rent, and Council Tax Benefit, if they pay Council Tax, and these will be withdrawn at a combined rate of 63%.

The report also points out that “Universal Credit has built a digital barrier that effectively obstructs many individuals’ access to their entitlements”. This new benefit should be claimable by phone, at a Jobcentre or via the Internet. Claimants must have the choice to be paid either every month or every two weeks. Housing Benefit should continue to be paid directly to the landlord.

Posted in News and Op-eds | 39 Comments

“Not even a tin of baked beans!” A visitor shows the need for radical reforms.

By Katharine Pindar | Mon 19th November 2018 - 3:15 pm

Ten per cent – TEN PER CENT – of the population of Cumbria are using food banks!

said a fellow church-goer to me in horror, after a Sunday service in a West Cumbrian village church. We were discussing the local bearing of the damning findings by the UN rapporteur Philip Alston, reporting on the effects of austerity policies on Britain today.

After a twelve-day tour of Britain’s towns and cities, Mr Alston, UN expert on extreme poverty and human rights, spoke in stark term about his findings, in London on Friday.

Clearly shocked by what he had found, according to the Independent’s report …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alston report and poverty | 57 Comments

29 October 2018 – today’s press releases (part two)

By Mark Valladares | Mon 29th October 2018 - 10:25 pm

As promised, part two of today’s output from the Party’s Press Team…

Fiscal Phil’s sticking plaster Budget

Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget, Liberal Democrat Leader and former Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

This was all very modest stuff, with more in it for potholes than schools and the police. A standstill non-event.

With growth remaining stubbornly low and Brexit weighing down our economy, it is clear the big problems are still to be tackled. It was a sticking plaster Budget, when major surgery lies ahead.

If we are to see an end to austerity, then we need a proper injection of

…

Posted in News | Also tagged Alistair Carmichael, budget 2018, climate change, don foster, ed davey, gambling, stephen lloyd, tom brake and vince cable | 5 Comments

26 October 2018 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Fri 26th October 2018 - 8:00 pm

A very diverse range of press releases today, it must be said…

Universal Credit causing unacceptable hardship

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has slammed the Conservative Government for refusing to listen to problems experienced by those on Universal Credit as the Public Accounts Committee urges Ministers to make fundamental changes to the scheme.

The Public Accounts Committee has today (26th October) published its report into the implementation of Universal Credit. The committee concludes that:

The DWP’s dismissive attitude to real-world experience is failing claimants
The recent announcement of delayed roll-out is not a solution
The Government must work with third-party organisations to shape programme

Liberal Democrat MP …

Posted in News | Also tagged Alistair Carmichael, chagos islanders, china, christine jardine, climate change, ed davey, fracking, layla moran, northern ireland, same sex marriage and tim farron | Leave a comment

In full: Vince Cable’s speech on universal credit – how the Lib Dems would tackle poverty

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 25th October 2018 - 1:30 pm

Yesterday Vince Cable gave a speech on tackling poverty to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. He addressed the growing poverty faced by working families and called for changes to Universal Credit – including putting back the £3 billion a year that George Osborne took out with indecent haste the minute we Lib Dems were out of the picture.

He said that the principles behind UC were right, but the implementation was wrong and called for its rollout to be halted until the problems were fixed.

Universal Credit hits Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen at the end of November. This means that thousands of people face a miserable Christmas as the first payments will be made (or not) the week before the holidays.To put people in the position where they can’t afford to pay their rent, heat their homes or put food on the table at the coldest time of the year is cruel.

Vince addressed the issue of a Universal Basic Income. He is sceptical although he can see the attractions. This is something I really want to believe in as so many people that I normally agree with are big fans of the idea. My worry is that it might entrench other forms of inequality as it doesn’t take into account needs of sick and disabled people and couldn’t be set at a high enough level to properly get everyone out of poverty. If someone can show me how that can be done, then I’d be really open to it.

Anyway, here is Vince’s speech in full:

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged poverty and universal basic income | 11 Comments

24 October 2018 – today’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Wed 24th October 2018 - 8:00 pm

Back to something resembling normal today…

Cable: UC’s practical problems are being ignored, creating real hardship

In a pre-Budget speech to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation this morning, Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable will call for a series of reforms to Universal Credit.

These include the reversal of cuts to the work allowance, worth around £3bn a year, and ending the benefits freeze a year early.

Vince Cable is expected to say:

The problems stem from conflicting objectives: providing minimum family income; providing incentives to work; simplification; and saving money. Simplification, saving money and work incentives have taken precedence over the first, crucial,

…

Posted in News | Also tagged brexit, layla moran, northern ireland and vince cable | 21 Comments

16 October 2018 – today’s press releases…

By Mark Valladares | Tue 16th October 2018 - 8:28 pm

Welcome to the second day of our week of publishing the Party’s press releases as we receive them. Do let us know in the comments if you find this valuable…

Government must improve care for those with eating disorders

Today Wera Hobhouse will lead a Westminster Hall debate on the role stigma plays in preventing people with eating disorders from accessing early treatment.

Eating disorders affect 1.25 million people in the UK and despite evidence showing early intervention is critical to a recovery, people wait three-and-a-half years, on average, between the onset of symptoms and starting treatment.

Liberal Democrat MP for Bath Wera …

Posted in News | Also tagged eating disorders, hate crime, stephen lloyd, vince cable and wera hobhouse | 4 Comments

Universal Basic Income and the Welsh Perspective

By Jane Dodds | Wed 29th August 2018 - 7:30 am

In Wales, like the rest of the UK, we are seeing increasing homelessness and food bank usage. The UK Government continues to roll out a Universal Credit system that will exacerbate this poverty. No compassionate politician can resign themselves to worsening poverty. We need to look for progressive solutions and to continue our opposition to government policies that demonise the poor.

One possible solution is a Universal Basic Income (UBI), an idea that has been the subject of much debate across the political spectrum, including within our own party. UBI is a conviction that people seek purpose, and – if given the opportunity and freedom – will usually make the best decisions about their lives – a great Liberal principle. It must be a conversation about how we live, not just how we earn.

Opponents of UBI argue that it would damage economic growth by leading fewer people to work, but I think this view underestimates people. Money is only one factor driving us to work. I suspect that most who work primarily for money would take UBI as an opportunity to make more money, rather than not work at all.

While many would likely choose to work less, this is not necessarily bad. They may do so to spend more time with their family, achieve a better (and healthier) work/life balance, upskill themselves, undertake charity work or care for loved ones.

Posted in News and Op-eds | 28 Comments

Rise of Foodbank Use Linked to Universal Credit

By Kirsten Johnson | Thu 26th April 2018 - 4:00 pm

I’ve just spent some time reading Early Warnings, Universal Credit and Foodbanks. In it, the Trussell Trust reveals the rise of foodbanks linked to the roll-out of Universal Credit.

The statistics are sobering. From April 2017 to March 2018, the Trussell Trust’s foodbank network supplied 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies. This was a 13% increase from the year before. Of these, 484,026 supplies went to children.

I will pause and let you process that.

Our families are so hard up, not being given enough money to live on, that almost half a million children have been found in need of emergency food supplies.

The main reasons for being referred to a food bank were:

low income (on benefits, not earning)
benefit delay
benefit change
debt

I have argued before that a universal basic income would remove the first three reasons – if everyone in the country gets enough to live on, you eradicate the lowest level of poverty instantly. UBI does not need to be high – £4500 has been shown to be a workable figure which keeps food on the table for families, removing children from extreme poverty.

The Trussell Trust shows the figures going back to 2012-13, when the number of 3-day emergency supply packs given out was 346,992. Almost four times as many packs are being given out now.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged food banks and trussell trust | 55 Comments

Lib Dems: Universal Credit could lead to up to 1.3 million evictions

By The Voice | Thu 22nd March 2018 - 11:00 am

New data released yesterday by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveals that only 6% of Universal Credit claimants in the private rented sector have their rent paid directly to their landlords, compared to 35% in the socially rented sector .

This is despite calls by Liberal Democrat DWP spokesperson Stephen Lloyd to make payments to landlords default. Lloyd has argued that maintaining the status quo will lead to many of the 1.3 million benefit claimants in the private rented sector being evicted, and potentially made homeless.

According to the Residential Landlords Association, 73% of landlords still lack confidence in renting to tenants on Universal Credit due to uncertainty that they will be able to recover rent arrears, while 38% have already experienced UC tenants going into arrears.

Posted in News | Also tagged dwp and housing benefit | 15 Comments

Economic Implications of Autumn Budget

By The Voice | Thu 23rd November 2017 - 8:30 am

Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake commented:

“Instead of a bright future for Britain, Conservative plans will see a £65bn hit to tax receipts, slashed wages and higher borrowing.

The Government found £3bn to spend on Brexit, but nothing for our police or social care.

The Chancellor has completely failed to show the ambition needed to tackle the housing crisis, build the infrastructure the country needs or fix Universal Credit.”

And here is the breakdown of the economic costs:

1. £65bn hit to tax receipts: Tax receipts have been downgraded by £65.4 billion over the five-year period compare to …

Posted in News | Also tagged economy, health and social care, housing, infrastructure, police, public sector pay and social housing | 12 Comments

Lib Dems step up attack on Universal Credit

By Caron Lindsay | Sun 22nd October 2017 - 9:59 pm

Liberal Democrats have played their part in making sure that the inadequacies of Universal Credit have been highlighted. In the debate on Wednesday, Christine Jardine said:

We hear that, instead of it helping, as many as 1 million children could be pushed into poverty by 2020. That surely cannot be the legacy that my Conservative colleagues would want to leave for future generations. They surely cannot be content with what they are hearing in this Chamber from constituents and even their own Back Benchers: that families are facing rent arrears and the threat of losing their homes; that there is anxiety about missed payments; and that people are choosing between making those payments or feeding their families.

Citizens Advice Scotland has already seen more than 100,000 people, one in five of whom have waited more than six weeks for payments—and only 14 areas in Scotland have UC. We stand at an important crossroads: the Government have the opportunity to pause UC, address its many flaws and say to those coping with the cruel reality of this botched benefit reform, “We hear you. We recognise the problem and we will fix it.”

Stephen Lloyd caught Iain Duncan Smith out one of those economic with the truth moments:

Secondly, the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), a former Secretary of State, said that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has supported universal credit. I was a bit surprised by that, so I did a quick check. The JRF actually said that it would support universal credit if it was properly funded—I just mentioned the £3 billion—and if payment and waiting times were reduced, which is exactly what many people have been saying today.

The media reports yesterday that the Government is ready to make changes on the amount of time people are waiting for money, but that isn’t the only problem with Universal Credit. It’s interesting that Labour now accepts the principles behind Universal Credit – that it should end the poverty trap. Until the Tories got a majority, that’s exactly what it would have done. There was enough money in there to ensure that people could move into work and not lose their benefits. Then May 2015 happened and George Osborne took billions out of the system.

So, our Work and Pensions Spokesperson Stephen Lloyd and Leader Vince Cable have written to the the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ask him to sort this out in the budget. They said:

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged christine jardine, stephen lloyd and vince cable | 3 Comments

Lib Dem Conference highlights – the Universal Credit Debate

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 23rd September 2017 - 11:36 am

On of my highlights of Conference was the debate on the emergency motion on delaying the rollout of Universal Credit because it is turning into a disaster for the people who are forced to claim it. People have to wait 6 weeks or longer for money. Imagine what that is like if you have no savings to get you through – a situation many people on low incomes will face.

The idea of Universal Credit is a very good one. It aimed to end the poverty trap which stopped people on benefits from getting work because it cost them to do so.

I made a speech from a Scottish perspective, outlining the principles of accessibility, fairness and confidence that were in our manifesto on social security and observing that Universal Credit meets none of them in its current form.

Other speakers gave some pretty harrowing examples of how people could lose their homes and have to rely on food banks to get by.

I am really hopeful, though, that we really are going to take this stuff to the Tories and try and get things changed.

The reason for my optimism is our new Department of Work and Pensions spokesperson Stephen Lloyd. Remember all that energy he put in to regaining his Eastbourne seat? He seriously never stopped campaigning after 2015. Well, that energy and determination is going in to opposing the Tory Government and building alliances across the Parliament to force the Government to think again. Here, in full, is the speech that he made in the debate:

The Tories’ reputation for competence is an oxymoron of epic proportions. This is a party who have politicised our police force with their ridiculous introduction of police and crime commissioners, prevented councils from building new council homes from the receipts of Margaret Thatcher’s huge council house sell-off programme decades ago, which is a direct cause of today’s appalling housing shortage – and then today the complete shambles of what they’ve done with Universal Credit. Competence is not a word which springs to mind!

The original concept of UC was ‘to make work pay’ and when we supported it in coalition it would have done. Since then though, over £3bn has been taken out of the programme. The work allowance, for instance, an amount people on benefits can earn before those benefits start being reduced, has been slashed to the bone. In some cases – to zero! And the taper rate, which determines how much people get to keep of their benefits for every extra pound earned, has also been cut to ribbons!!

This has rendered the entire principle behind universal credit – to make work pay, something I and the Liberal Democrats passionately believe in – utterly worthless.

Universal credit is no longer a progressive, reliable policy; it is a complete train wreck. And the Conservatives are responsible!!

It gets worse. Housing payments made directly to the tenants; something I fiercely opposed at the time when I was on the Work and Pensions Select Committee – telling the ministers that it would lead to a shocking rise in rent defaults. And I remember so clearly the then Secretary of State chiding me for ‘not trusting that tenants would pass the money on to their landlords’….

The result?, and this is even before the full national UC rollout-out, have been every bit as bad as I feared; if not worse!

Posted in News | Also tagged 2017 autumn conference | 5 Comments

Scottish Parliament calls for rollout of Universal Credit to be halted

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 8th September 2017 - 9:26 am

Alex Cole-Hamilton was one of the MSPs calling for the rollout of Universal Credit to be halted during a debate in the Scottish Parliament today. Only the Conservatives defended the continued rollout.

We know that people are having to wait up to 6 weeks for any money at all. MSPs had some real horror stories to report which you can see in the full record of the debate here.

Alex’s speech was very well crafted – and it was candid, too. He both acknowledged and distanced himself from the Liberal Democrat role in the coalition government’s welfare reform. However, he was able to show that without us there, the Tories have done a great deal worse. Here’s his speech in full.

I often speak with hyperbole in this place about the various responsibilities that we as decision makers discharge both in this Parliament and at Westminster, but the safety net that we provide for those who, for whatever reason, cannot provide for themselves should be the measure of any civilised society. My party has a proud history in the genesis and introduction of the welfare state in the early days of the 20th century, with the first state pension introduced under Lloyd George. In the 1940s, that great Liberal William Beveridge was the catalyst for the advent of social security when he identified the original “giant evils”, as he described them, of ignorance, idleness, squalor, want and disease. It is a failure of progress that, if we strip out the antiquated language, many of those evils still hold sway in our society today.

We should remember that, until this decade, the systems of welfare in this country had not undergone significant reform since their introduction, despite generations of incremental modification. For decades, welfare reform was sought by poverty campaigners, third sector organisations and academics so that we could dispense with unneeded red tape and inject much-needed social mobility into the system.

It fell to my party, in its period of coalition government, to co-preside over that much-needed redesign. I would, however, that we had had different bedfellows in that task. There are elements of the system that underpins the process that I take no pride in at all, and there are aspects of the new system that I still find shameful. Nevertheless, I am glad that we were there, for I dread to think of the welfare system that our Conservative partners would have designed unencumbered. We all saw the measure of the ideological compass behind Conservative social policy in the ill-fated manifesto that Theresa May published in the spring.

Posted in News | Also tagged Scotland and social security | 5 Comments

Lord Jonny Oates at the Pudding Club at York

By Keith Aspden | Wed 9th March 2016 - 1:51 pm

I was delighted to welcome Lord Jonny Oates to York last month for a visit to our annual Pudding Club – one of the highlights of our local parties social calendar!

Lord Oates, who was recently made a life peer after serving as a councillor in Kingston Upon Thames and later as Chief of Staff to Nick Clegg, highlighted his concerns about proposed cuts to Universal Credit to local party members in York.

As readers will know, last year George Osborne was forced to re-think cuts to working tax credits after a local and national campaign by the Lib Dems. The changes were set to hit 8,000 families in York, but the Chancellor said households claiming the benefit would be helped by “transitional protection” as they moved to the new single Universal Credit.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, claimed that “nobody will lose any money on arrival on universal credit from tax credits”. Many residents in York were reassured and pleased that a U-Turn had been made.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged jonny oates and york | 2 Comments

Another day, another time Labour doesn’t bother turning up to defeat Government in Lords

By The Voice | Wed 27th January 2016 - 9:45 pm

You would think, wouldn’t you, that if there was a chance to defeat the Government, especially if it was to do with helping out low paid workers, Labour Lords would show up, wouldn’t you?

Certainly that would be a triumph of hope over experience in this Parliament, given that they never bothered to kill of the tax credit rise when they had the chance. Nor, of course, did they turn up to secure votes at 16.

Again tonight, they failed to show up to vote for a Liberal Democrat motion to get rid of the cuts to Universal Credit from April 2017. These are exactly the same cuts that were going to happen to tax credits.

Speaking after the defeat of the Lib Dem motion (by 91 votes to 202, which is a pretty spectacular turnout for our peers, Lords Chief Whip Dick Newby said:

Posted in News | Also tagged house of lords and labour | 39 Comments

Lib Dem amendment aims to repeal £1000 cut for low-paid families

By The Voice | Fri 15th January 2016 - 5:15 pm

The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment which would stop the Chancellor’s planned cuts to Universal Credit which are still in place, meaning that families on the lowest income will face a similar annual cut in income as those who receive tax credits. Osborne stopped the tax credit cuts after political pressure but the Universal Credit cuts are still planned to go ahead.

The changes mean that anyone applying for Universal Credit from 2017 would be £1000 worse off.

Work and Pensions spokesperson Zahida Manzoor said:

George Osborne claimed he listened to concerns about low income working families losing out when he U-turned on Tax Credits, but in fact he has simply delayed the pain.

Posted in News | Also tagged zahida manor | 1 Comment

Farron stands up for families on low incomes facing cuts in Universal Credits

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 30th December 2015 - 8:48 am

Embed from Getty Images

Tim Farron has challenged Conservative and Labour parliamentarians to join with the Liberal Democrats to overturn the Government’s proposed cuts to Universal Credit. These are almost identical to the cuts to tax credits which the Chancellor reversed in his Autumn Statement. It is surely only logical that the changes to Universal Credit should also be reversed.

The Party is to put an amendment repealing those changes. It will be discussed as part of the Committee stage on the Welfare Reform and Work Bill in the New Year.

Tim Farron said:

The first big political battle of 2016 is already looming.

The Liberal Democrats worked hard to stop Tax Credit cuts and we won’t let the Government bring it in through the back door.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor claim they want to make work pay, but cuts to Universal Credit will mean people pocket less of what they earn.

Posted in News | Also tagged low income families and tim farron | 1 Comment

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Tag Archives: universal credit

19 May 2020 – today’s press releases

Jane Dodds writes: No going back to business as usual

What we should now be calling for

12 February 2019 – today’s press releases

11 February 2019 – today’s press releases (part 2)

11 January 2019 – today’s press releases

6 December 2018 – today’s press releases

What policies should we have in response to the UN report on UK poverty?

“Not even a tin of baked beans!” A visitor shows the need for radical reforms.

29 October 2018 – today’s press releases (part two)

26 October 2018 – today’s press releases

In full: Vince Cable’s speech on universal credit – how the Lib Dems would tackle poverty

24 October 2018 – today’s press releases

16 October 2018 – today’s press releases…

Universal Basic Income and the Welsh Perspective

Rise of Foodbank Use Linked to Universal Credit

Lib Dems: Universal Credit could lead to up to 1.3 million evictions

Lib Dems step up attack on Universal Credit

Lib Dem Conference highlights – the Universal Credit Debate

Lord Jonny Oates at the Pudding Club at York

Another day, another time Labour doesn’t bother turning up to defeat Government in Lords

Lib Dem amendment aims to repeal £1000 cut for low-paid families

Farron stands up for families on low incomes facing cuts in Universal Credits

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GVJ: Why we need the English Lib Dems

GE 2019: "An accident waiting to happen"

Bill Powell on the future after surviving Covid-19

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Tag Archives: universal credit

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