Local MP slams Tory plan to slash Universal Credit for thousands of families in Bristol South
Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, has called on the Government to urgently cancel their plans to slash Universal Credit by more than £1000 per year in April – a move that would affect thousands of families in Bristol South.
Smyth’s call came as the Government refused to back Labour’s House of Commons motion scrapping the cut.
Under current Government plans, 11,440 people in Bristol South who claim Universal Credit will see their income slashed by £20 a week as cuts come into effect in April.
Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, said:
“The past year has been incredibly difficult for families across Bristol South. At a time when low-income families desperately need the support that Universal Credit provides, the Government are choosing to cut this crucial lifeline by £20 a week. The predicted loss of the Tories failure to support the Labour motion is in excess of £8m per year to Bristol South.
“The Government needs to be supporting the most vulnerable in our communities, but instead they have wasted £22bn of taxpayers money on a failed test and trace system, leaving the poorest in our society to shoulder the burden of their incompetence.
“It is unthinkable that the Government plan to slash Universal Credit at the most critical point in the pandemic. I will continue to stand up for families across Bristol South, and push Boris Johnson to cancel the cut.