Labour presses PM for action ahead of benefit vote To Keep £20 Extra For U/C

[nukecad]

They are worried because if they keep it for UC then they can't use the same excuse as last year for not including it in legacy benefits as well ("we can't change the legacy system quickly").
Even a one off payment opens that up to challenge.

And if they do include it for legacy this time then they have no excuse for refusing to backpay legacy for last year as well.

They got away with not including legacy last year because no one took them to court over it, simply because it wasn't seen as the right time at the start of the pandemic/lockdowns.
That will be very different if they give it to UC but try to exclude legacy again this time around, and will open them up again to last year being looked at as well.

They can avoid that by not giving anything extra to UC this year.

To put things right they would have to give legacy whatever they give UC this time, and backpay legacy the £1K missed for last year.

TBH paying (even backpaying) legacy is a drop in the bucket of what they are spending elswhere on Covid measures; but of course that's being spent on the 'hard working' not on benefit 'scroungers'.

[StarBright]

Last week I think it was there was a very short clip on sky news showing Therese Coffey answering some questions & she was asked why there was no uplift for people on legacy benefits to help while covid is about & she said I'm not aware of any extra expense people on legacy benefits have due to covid. But I hear you

[beau]

she said I'm not aware of any extra expense people on legacy benefits have due to covid. But I hear you

What about delivery charges to get your shopping? All extra expense.

I don't agree with the one off payment of £1000, for those that budget carefully that will be good, others will just blow it in one go.

[worried33]

Expense deliveroo, every item 200% price, small delivery fee, service fees etc.

Having to source new food because no supermarket slots.

Her comment was a clear brush off, if people on UC have extra costs then those would also apply to legacy benefits.

Beau 100% true, I would budget it properly, but there will be people out there who wont. Its also dangerous to give something like that to someone who might have drug or alcohol dependencies as well.

[StarBright]

Totally agree with you both. There was a survey on here to fill in about how covid was affecting you & I put about the extra food costs & said that the online supermarkets lowest delivery fee is £40 (iceland do £25 then £2 delivery fee) & said that people can not spend £40 every week to get fresh food which meant that they have been going without where's before covid people could shop in store & buy what they needed fresh every week without having to spend £40 a week.

I did that for everyone who has struggled through covid & have spent a lot more money that they usually did or have gone without.

Sky news has been running an article about keeping the £20 U/C uplift today showing people at food banks

[beau]

[QUOTE=worried33;174207] Its also dangerous to give something like that to someone who might have drug or alcohol dependencies as well.[/QUOTE

I can see gamblers clapping their hands with glee too.

[birdwatcher]

Whatever my thoughts were in the earlier thread, I am disgusted that the government are dragging their heels on renewing this, they clearly dont want to do it.

Seems to be a proposal for £1000 payment instead which I expect is because they dont want people getting used to an extra £20 a week income whilst the lump sum can be treated as a one off.

Hopefully Rashford steps in again to shame them.

But didn't you say the people on legacy shouldn't complain and didn't need it?

If so, in your opinion, why do people need it now?

Or is it that everybody needs it, and the legacy benefits always needed it?

[worried33]

But didn't you say the people on legacy shouldn't complain and didn't need it?

If so, in your opinion, why do people need it now?

Or is it that everybody needs it, and the legacy benefits always needed it?

I didnt say that, you can interpret it that way if you want, however now is different to then, now is the situation where they already rolled it out, and its a year later down the line and no longer the start of a pandemic.

What I am saying is if the excuse by the minister that people on legacy benefits dont need it, that is hogwash because the needs of people on legacy benefits and UC are the same. I even said in the original discussion I think they want people to move to UC and this is a tactic they using, and of course people have the option to move to UC, but after thinking about it more, and given that this is going to last a while, I think the government should be renewing the £20 and also considering putting this on legacy benefits as well.

People can come to a new point of view and I think its harsh to hold someone to something they said in the past.

[StarBright]

Sky news has just said that the £20 uplift to U/C will stay for at least the next six months. I don't know if that's right or not.It's supposed to be in the budget tomorrow

[worried33]

Yeah it is at the point now I would be surprised if its not a 6 month renewal, sadly it looks like a permanent uplift is unlikely, the delay of announcing it, and the short duration all point to that. The majority of press reports dont even mention legacy benefits, so I would be very surprised if they included.