Vince Cable and Stephen Lloyd, Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions Spokesperson, have penned a joint letter to David Gauke to reverse the cuts to the work allowance in the Budget, which they say has “fatally undermined the whole purpose of Universal Credit”

The letter warns the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions  that “reducing work allowances – even abolishing them entirely for people without children – will both worsen poverty and severely weaken incentives to work.”

The letter references analysis published this weekend by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation revealing that keeping the work allowance at current levels – as opposed to restoring it to its previous levels – will push 340,000 people into poverty in 2020/21. 310,000 of these live in families with children.

Notes:

A copy of the text of the letter can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-e-vSd0A7QWnSS6ZOyRfNG_DUiwBDfjfaS6iVTbRfUM/edit?usp=sharing

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s analysis can be found here:
https://www.jrf.org.uk/press/budget-government-must-show-it-side-just-about-managing