Marcus Rashford calls for Universal Credit cuts to be abandoned
"On October 6, millions lose a lifeline", says the footballer
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford MBE has made a plea to the Government to axe the Universal Credit uplift to combat what he has called a "child hunger pandemic".
Last year the England footballer forced Boris Johnson to pull a U-turn on the removal of free school meals, and is now urging voters to write to their MP's before the vital £20 boost is taken away on 6th October.
Rashford said: "Instead of removing vital support, we should be focusing on developing a long-term roadmap out of this child hunger pandemic. On October 6, millions lose a lifeline."
The 23 year old is calling on ministers to expand free school meal eligibility to all children aged seven to 18 in households earning £20,000 or less after benefit, up from what is currently £7,400 a year before benefits, and ensuring that this includes undocumented children and those with “no recourse to public funds” under the immigration system.
The £20 boost to Universal Credit was initially introduced to help struggling families during the pandemic, but Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has insisted that it was only "temporary assistance".
Citizens Advice has predicted that withdrawing the extra financial support next month could force 1.5 million working people into hardship, with 600,000 of those left struggling to afford food.
Additionally, figures from the Citizens Advice said that around 2.3 million Universal Credit claimants are already in work, with a further 1.7 million unable to supplement any income loss through employment due to health or caring responsibilities.
Ministers have been told by the Resolution Foundation think tank that maintaining the uplift would "go a long way towards easing the coming cost-of-living squeeze for millions of families", with growing inflation and rising energy prices set to pile on the financial pressures for low income households.
Despite this, it seems that Rashford's appeal has appeared to fall on deaf ears as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps repeated the Prime Minister's declaration that keeping the additional weekly £20 as part of the benefits package would require tax rises.
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The Transport Secretary has said salary inflation could help make-up for the loss in household income, and that other Covid-related support, such as local housing allowance, would be staying in place.
"You mentioned some costs will be going up - that's undoubtedly true - but fortunately I can also report that salaries are going up faster than that. I think we've seen a 4.2% increase in salaries this year", Mr Shapps said.