London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 19, 2025

Universal credit cut is a cruel blow for the poor | Letters

Universal credit cut is a cruel blow for the poor | Letters

Letters: The planned abolition of the £20 uplift is the latest attack on claimants caught in an unfair benefits system, says Mark Newbury. Plus letters from Jane Middleton and Manuela Gonnermann

Your editorial (14 September) is correct in highlighting the link between access to affordable social housing and childcare as a determining factor in childhood poverty. But with its focus on the imminent removal of the £20 per week uplift, it does not address two structural issues relating to universal credit. First, help with housing costs is restricted. Those living in rented accommodation – regardless of being in paid employment or not – face a cap on how much rent is taken into account under either the local housing allowance (for those in the private rented sector) or the “bedroom tax” (for those in social housing), with any shortfall met from the claimants’ income.

Second, there is “benefit capping”. The original benefit cap restricts entitlement to benefit (including help with rental costs) to a maximum amount per month and impacts larger families not in paid employment. A more insidious version, the two-child policy, removed the entitlement to any state support, bar child benefit, for a third and any subsequent child born after April 2017. The policy applies to families who are wholly benefit-dependant and to those in work. In real terms, it represents a cut in universal credit of up to £237.08 per child per month.

While the £20 uplift has been a lifeline for many, until such time as the root causes of poverty – access to affordable housing, childcare, financial support for children and in-work benefits that simply subsidise a low wage economy as opposed to “making work pay” – are adequately addressed, the situation facing many families will worsen.
Mark Newbury
Farndale, North Yorkshire

*  To put the onus on charities and other campaigning organisations to change the chancellor’s mind on abolishing the universal credit uplift is manifestly unrealistic. Anti-poverty campaigners including the Trussell Trust, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Church Action on Poverty are already putting everything they have into efforts to stop the cut, and public opinion, as your editorial makes clear, supports them. If the last 10 years have taught us anything, it is that there is no point appealing to the better instincts of ideologically motivated Tory chancellors when it comes to social security. Instead, what’s needed is pressure from Rishi Sunak’s own backbench MPs – as in 2017, when Philip Hammond was persuaded by a threatened backbench rebellion to introduce a £1.5bn package of support for universal credit.

I would strongly recommend that the six Conservative former work and pensions secretaries who have spoken out against the cut use those belated pangs of conscience to organise backbenchers to revolt.
Jane Middleton
Bath, Somerset

*  I am a volunteer at my local food bank and this cut will have a huge impact on the local community. We have been supporting hundreds of people weekly throughout the pandemic and now that we are emerging from it, we need to give people a chance to get their lives back on track and not plunge them into further debt.

We are one food bank of many in just a small part of north London. The effect of cutting universal credit, together with the increase in national insurance and approaching colder weather at a time when people are trying to get out of poverty, will have a knock-on effect on the ability of individuals and families to get through the autumn and winter months.

Instead of taking this support away, the £20 uplift should be made permanent and extended to all those receiving benefits, so that no one is excluded from this lifeline.
Manuela Gonnermann
London

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
×