As Universal Credit extends its icy grip, the tone of press coverage has been changing; it is more focused on personal experiences, and it is ever more serious. These are from the last few days; the headlines speak for themselves.
- Universal Credit delay left Glasgow man living on water for four days
- Man ‘forced to sleep on the streets’ after Universal Credit benefits cut (Hull)
- Universal Credit leaves Coventry couple with just £1 a day to live on
- Sick man living on food parcels and facing bankruptcy due to Universal Credit (Huddersfield
- Birmingham food banks at ‘crisis point’ because of Universal Credit.
I cannot think of anything “clever” to say; I would just wish to record my sadness at how many people have been adversely affected by the various botched welfare changes and UC in particular. Unfortunately, as we know, the situation will get worse in 2019 so the relentless pressure on Food Banks will continue. The Scottish Government has a more positive attitude to social security; however it will be a long time before this limited devolution of powers has any significant practical impact on benefit claimants in Scotland; for our friends in the rest of the UK there is not even that glimmer of hope.