Angela Crawley MP has said the UK government must immediately halt the roll-out of Universal Credit – after a new report revealed the Tory policy will leave 3.2 million households around £50 a week worse off compared with tax credits.

The report, published today by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), also revealed that as a result of Tory cuts almost three million children across the UK are now locked in poverty despite living in a working family.

The Lanark and Hamilton East MP said the report was another damning indictment of the roll-out of Universal Credit and the Tory government’s record on poverty. She added that Universal Credit was “not fit for purpose” and called for urgent changes – including reinstating the work allowance and lifting the benefit freeze.

Commenting, Angela said:

“The Tories must call an immediate halt to the disastrous roll-out of Universal Credit, which has pushed families into poverty and left millions of people poorer and worse off.

“In its current form Universal Credit is simply not fit for purpose. It requires urgent and radical changes, including the reinstatement of the work allowance and an end to the benefit freeze.

“The Tory government’s miserable record on living standards is a disgrace – with soaring levels of poverty and inequality, and the majority of families left worse off than a decade ago.

“The botched roll-out of Universal Credit has left a path of devastation – cutting household incomes by hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year, taken support away from the disabled, and forced families to rely on food banks and emergency aid just to get by.

“After a decade of failed Tory cuts it is vital that the UK government uses the forthcoming Budget to end austerity, reverse the cuts to social security, and deliver meaningful investment to boost household incomes.”