Rishi sunak grilled on cuts to universal credit payments

On Sky News, the chancellor discussed the ending of the Universal Credit temporary uplift, and the best things he thought could help lower income families to recover from the pandemic. He

said: "That temporary uplift was indeed temporary, I don’t think it will help them the most. “It was a right intervention for the particular part of the crisis we’ve experienced. Now as

the economy is reopening and businesses are hiring again the right thing to do is to help people find well-paid jobs. “This is why the kickstart scheme is important, it’s why we give

companies huge cash incentives to create new apprenticeships for people." “The Prime Minister’s lifetime skills guarantee is also crucial," he said. READ MORE: PENSION TRIPLE LOCK

- HOW MUCH YOU COULD LOSE AS RISHI UNDER PRESSURE “10 million adults who don’t have a level three qualification will for the first time be able to get one from the Government. “We know that

can have a transformative impact on people’s ability to get a new job will get a better paid job.” During the pandemic, it has been argued that the poorest people were hit the hardest and

were most likely the ones to work through their savings. With things looking up, the Government is heavily focused on the recovery of the economy and the workforce. DON'T MISS The

chancellor continued: “What I’m most proud of over the past 12 to 18 months is that we have looked after the most vulnerable in our society. “All the figures show that those on the lowest

income have seen the most support from this Government at what has been a very difficult time and we’re not done supporting people. “My firm belief is the best way to help those families is

to make sure that they can have well-paid work and we’ve got a suite of things that we are doing. “The national living wage is going up, also helping them with new skills training to find a

job. He continued: “The kickstart scheme with the Government is fully funding high-quality jobs for young people at risk of unemployment. “Those are the types of things we are doing, and it

will all make a major difference.” Millions of Universal Credit claimants have been told via text message that their benefits will be cut next month as the Government end the £20 uplift.

Despite the opposition from charities, opposition parties and even its own MPs not to remove the increase, it will go ahead. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation conducted research on the impact

that the Universal Credit cut will have on claimants. By removing the uplift approximately 500,000 people, including 200,000 children, will go into poverty. But benefit claimants began to

receive text messages yesterday confirming the cut would still be going ahead. Originally it had a planned ending in March 2021, but this was further extended until October. Universal Credit

has proven a vital safety net for six million people throughout the pandemic.