The Tories’ attempted changes to the welfare system are already unravelling. Labour must commit to fighting all austerity.
The Tory government’s flagship welfare “reform” Universal Credit has been plagued with controversy since its inception. Yet the government has closed its eyes, blocked its ears and carried on regardless. All we ever hear from a succession of seemingly lobotomised ministers is how Universal Credit is “transforming lives” by “making work pay”.
But as more and more people have been forced to claim the new benefit, the reality has become clear: it only serves to entrench poverty and spread misery.
Splits and crisis
So bad is Universal Credit that even the government’s own (usually toothless) watchdog has condemned it.
In a recent report, the National Audit Office found that Universal Credit was causing financial hardship while costing more money than the previous system. The government has been unable to prove that the changes have had any benefits.
True to form, the Work and Pensions minister Esther McVey dismissed these claims and assured Parliament that all is well with Universal Credit.
The National Audit Office, using unprecedentedly strong language, then hit back, accusing her of lying and misleading Parliament. McVey has now had to apologise for “inadvertently misleading” Westminster, claiming that it was all just a “mistake”.
Such splits in the institutions of government are clear symptoms of a deep political crisis.
Trojan horse
Behind the government’s bluster, the fact is that Universal Credit is a Trojan horse for deep welfare cuts. Independent analysis has shown that the cuts hidden within Universal Credit will result in three million families each losing up to £2,600 per year.
On top of these cuts, Universal Credit has proved to be an inefficient system, with lengthy delays that leave people without any money for weeks on end.
Since the advent of Tory austerity, the scourge of hunger has returned to the streets of Britain in a big way – and Universal Credit is making this worse.
Food banks gave out a record 1.3m food parcels to an estimated 666,000 people in 2017-18, an increase of 13% on the previous years. Indeed, in areas with Universal Credit already operating, food banks were four times busier, with an average 52% increase in the number of families reliant on their support.
No to austerity
In the face of such devastating consequences, the Labour leadership have limited themselves to calling for Universal Credit’s rollout to be “slowed down” while the system is “fixed”.
But we must be clear: there is no way of fixing Universal Credit. The Tories’ new benefits system isn’t broken – it was always designed to punish the poor.
A socialist Labour government will need to do away with this mess entirely. Instead, the focus must on providing useful and fulfilling employment for all while supporting those that are unable to work.
