London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

Universal credit: Judge rejects £20 uplift court challenge

Universal credit: Judge rejects £20 uplift court challenge

A High Court judge has rejected a case alleging the government unlawfully discriminated against claimants left out of the £20 universal credit uplift.

The weekly uplift was paid to universal credit claimants between March 2020 and October 2021, but people on other benefits were not given the extra cash.

Four claimants excluded from the uplift went to court, but a judge ruled the different treatment was justified.

Lawyers for the claimants are considering an appeal.

About two million people are on so-called "legacy benefits" such as jobseekers' allowance, income support and employment support allowance - these claimants were not eligible for the £20 weekly uplift sanctioned by the government to support people during the pandemic.

What is universal credit?


Universal credit is a single benefit payment for working-age people, which was introduced to replace a range of different benefits for unemployed and low-paid people, and make the system simpler.

It's claimed by more than 5.8 million people in England, Scotland and Wales, both in and out of work - 40% of universal credit claimants are workers.

Claimants received an extra £20 per week during the pandemic - from March 2020 to October 2021 - when many people lost their jobs unexpectedly and had to cope with reduced incomes.

Lawyers for the four people who brought the case for a judicial review argued that those on legacy benefits faced the same financial pressures as those on universal credit, and the government's decision not to treat them the same amounted to unlawful discrimination.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Swift highlighted the government's objective of helping people who had lost their livelihoods during the pandemic, as claims for universal credit doubled to 5.3 million between March and May 2020.

"The central question raised by the Claimants' discrimination claims is whether it was lawful for the Secretary of State to direct attention to the position of new benefits claimants, all of whom would have made claims for universal credit.

"I consider that she was. New benefits claimants would need to adjust to a loss in income. They would be affected differently to persons already claiming benefits."

William Ford, partner at Osbornes Law, who represent the four individuals who brought the case against the government said they were "extremely disappointed by today's judgment" and would look at any possible grounds to appeal.

"The court's decision is a devastating blow to more than two million people who we consider were unjustly deprived of the £20 uplift given to those who receive universal credit during the pandemic.

"It is deeply unfair that those on so-called legacy benefits should be discriminated against in this way, and we will look to see if we can continue to fight the government on this issue to get our clients and everybody else on legacy benefits justice."

One of the four claimants, Phil Wayland, from Rochford in Essex, has relied on employment support allowance for 11 years.

He has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and his condition means he cannot work in his previous role as a floor-layer and carpet-fitter.

Phil Wayland says the decision to leave people like him out of the uplift was 'blatantly discriminatory'


He says surviving on his benefit payments became harder during the pandemic. He lives with his mother, a pensioner, and says if it wasn't for that "I'd be in queues for foodbanks".

Mr Wayland believes people on employment support allowance, who are unable to work because of ill health, are the poorest and most vulnerable in society, Not allowing them the additional weekly £20 was, he says, "just blatantly discriminatory. I felt compelled to try and do something really".

Legacy benefits are gradually being phased out and replaced by universal credit, but this process is expected to take until at least 2024.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×