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• UNIVERSAL CREDIT and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are the cornerstone of this government’s austerity programme.

PIP was introduced by Iain Duncan Smith – the Tory Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2010 to 2016 – and was supposed to be rolled-out across Great Britain in October 2013. This was delayed due to problems with reliability, the length of time it took to assess claims and difficulty in recruiting assessors. Since its introduction it has been dogged by controversy – especially when new rules were introduced in 2017 which seemed to target the disabled. Many claimants feel that PIP is rigged against them.

In October, 2010, Iain Duncan Smith announced the introduction of a Universal Credit designed to simplify the benefit system and improve work incentives. It replaced Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit (WTC) and Housing Benefit.

Like PIP, the introduction of Universal Credit has been roundly criticised from many quarters. A five-week delay in receiving the first payment has seen many people turning to food banks. Indeed, in April 2018 the Trussell Trust (which runs many food banks) reported that, areas where universal credit had been rolled out, had seen an average 52% rise in use of food banks compared to 2017.

Indeed, it’s been reported that many women turned to prostitution through delays in paying Universal Credit or because Universal Credit payments were insufficient to meet their basic needs.

We would encourage members & supporters of the National Liberal Party – in fact, anyone who believes in the concept of Social Justice – to help the fight against PIP and Universal Credit. A simple start would be to viral out these Scrap Universal Credit! e-posters via Social Media:

Caledonian Voice Says Scrap Universal Credit! http://nationalliberal.org/caledonian-voice-says-scrap-universal-credit

English Voice Says Scrap Universal Credit! http://nationalliberal.org/english-voice-says-scrap-universal-credit

Caledonian Voice & English Voice Say … Scrap Universal Credit! http://nationalliberal.org/caledonian-voice-english-voice-say-…-scrap-universal-credit RT

Ulster Voice Says Scrap Universal Credit! https://nationalliberal.org/ulster-voice-says-scrap-universal-credit