Universal Credit: Prime Minister under pressure to extend £20 a week uplift

The Prime Minister has been warned by his opposite number Sir Keir Starmer that millions of families will be £1,000 a year worse off if the Government scraps the increase.

He will also face calls to extend the uplift from Tory MPs as the Northern Research Group (NRG) said endling it now would be “devastating”.

In a statement issued on behalf of the 65 MPs in the group, Carlisle MP John Stevenson said it had been a “life-saver” for people through the pandemic.

The statement added: “That is why the NRG are once again calling on the Chancellor to extend the Universal Credit uplift until restrictions are lifted, to ensure that individuals and families who have been worst affected by this pandemic are supported through our recovery with the security they need.”

Labour leader Sir Keir said that failing to give families a “helping hand” through the coronavirus pandemic would “slow our economic recovery as we come out of it”.

Labour will use its opposition day debate in the Commons on Monday afternoon to force a vote on the plans. Conservative MPs are expected to abstain.

The motion states: “This House believes that the Government should stop the planned cut in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit in April and give certainty today to the six million families for whom it is worth an extra £1,000 a year.”

Sir Keir said: “Families across the UK have spent the past year worried for their loved ones, their jobs and their family’s security.

“Millions of people have had to juggle childcare with working from home, have seen jobs or incomes cut or been excluded from self-employed support.

“If we don’t give a helping hand to families through this pandemic, then we are going to slow our economic recovery as we come out of it.

“We began 2021 with one of the worst death tolls in Europe and the deepest recession of any major economy.

“Without action from Government, millions of families face a £1,000 per year shortfall in the midst of a historic crisis.

“We urge Boris Johnson to change course and give families certainty today that their incomes will be protected.”

The Government is also facing pressure from charities to keep the uplift, with Action For Children saying the case against cutting it “couldn’t be clearer” with unemployment set to peak in the summer.