New call for £20 weekly uplift on Universal Credit to be announced in Autumn statement
dailyrecord.co.ukAn extra £20 per week should be given to those receiving Universal Credit to help reduce the number of people living in poverty, a senior Labour MP has said.
Speaking in the Commons during the ‘Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity’ debate on Wednesday, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell made an appeal to the UK Government to “help our children out of poverty” in the upcoming Autumn Statement.
Mr McDonnell told MPs that one million children are currently living in “destitution”, meaning they cannot afford to meet their most basic physical needs, such as staying warm, dry, clean and fed.
He said: “This is an appeal to the Chancellor to do something in the Autumn Statement, in a couple of weeks’ time, to help our children out of poverty. “In the pandemic, it was recognised by the Government that the safety net was not working, so with our unanimous support they added an extra £20 a week to Universal Credit to see people through.
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