Mayor of London adds to calls to maintain Universal Credit uplift

The Mayor of London has today urged the government to extend the uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax credits, with research showing that ending the uplift at the end of the month will plunge 130,000 Londoners into poverty.

More than one million Londoners are on Universal Credit, with the poorest people across the country expected to see their incomes reduced by % and fuel bills also set to rise.

Research by the University of Essex, commissioned by City Hall, has found that the poorest 10% of Londoners will be hardest hit with an 8% decrease in their incomes, and London will be worse affected than the rest of the country, although the whole UK will be poorer.

The researchers also found that keeping the £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax credits and going further by removing all the benefit caps would cut child poverty in London by 10%, keeping more than 70,000 children out of poverty.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘The Government’s decision to increase Universal Credit and Working Tax credits enabled many Londoners to make ends meet during this incredibly challenging period. Cutting this support now would have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of Londoners, on top of the forthcoming rise in fuel bills.

‘With so much talk about ‘levelling up’, we must not forget that our capital has some of the most deprived communities anywhere in the UK and ending the uplift will hit many Londoners hard. I urge Ministers to do the right thing – to not only retain the uplift but go further and remove the benefit cap to help cut poverty in London and across the country.’

In related news, a letter from the UK’s three devolved governments has been sent to the UK government’s secretary of state for the Department of Work and Pensions, expressing ‘grave concerns’ regarding plans to withdraw a £20-per-week increase to Universal Credit.

Photo by Edward Howell