To Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak and Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for DWP
Sign the open letter calling on the government to keep the £20 Universal Credit boost in place
Please do not go ahead with the planned £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit at the start of October.
At the start of the pandemic, the Chancellor said that he was introducing the £20 increase to “strengthen the safety net”, and we all need the security of that strong safety net, not just during a national crisis like this pandemic, but every day.
We've heard your argument that cutting Universal Credit by £20 a week will encourage more people back to work - but the fact is a third of the people impacted by this cut are already in work. Some will be unable to find work in the current economic situation, and others with high risk conditions may still feel unsafe going back to work.
As signers of this open letter some of us are currently receiving Universal Credit, and know what this cut will mean for us. Some of us have received it in the past, and some of us have never yet been in a position where we've needed that extra help. But all of us are calling on you to listen to the 100 organisations that last week published their own open letter, listen to the six former Conservative Work & Pensions Secretaries that say this cut would go too far, and listen to the many Conservative MPs who are speaking out on behalf of their constituents.
You were elected on a promise to level up the country. This would do the opposite. Please drop this planned cut.
At the start of the pandemic, the Chancellor said that he was introducing the £20 increase to “strengthen the safety net”, and we all need the security of that strong safety net, not just during a national crisis like this pandemic, but every day.
We've heard your argument that cutting Universal Credit by £20 a week will encourage more people back to work - but the fact is a third of the people impacted by this cut are already in work. Some will be unable to find work in the current economic situation, and others with high risk conditions may still feel unsafe going back to work.
As signers of this open letter some of us are currently receiving Universal Credit, and know what this cut will mean for us. Some of us have received it in the past, and some of us have never yet been in a position where we've needed that extra help. But all of us are calling on you to listen to the 100 organisations that last week published their own open letter, listen to the six former Conservative Work & Pensions Secretaries that say this cut would go too far, and listen to the many Conservative MPs who are speaking out on behalf of their constituents.
You were elected on a promise to level up the country. This would do the opposite. Please drop this planned cut.
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Can you spread the word?
SIGN THE OPEN LETTER: Tell government not to cut the £20 Universal Credit lifeline
