Commenting on tonight’s Opposition Day Debate on Universal Credit, Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham said:
“The Chancellor’s plan to take £1,040 a year from families on Universal Credit – including 3,641 in Stockton North – is the biggest overnight cut to basic rate of social security since the Second World War and will plunge thousands of people into poverty and financial insecurity. That’s why I’m voting against the cut to Universal Credit in Parliament later today.
“Child poverty in Stockton North is 37 per cent, with around 6,802 children living in poverty. Many of these children will be in families who rely on Universal Credit to put food on their tables and the Chancellor’s plan to cut the basic rate will make their lives more difficult. I’m urging the Chancellor and his colleagues – including the Teesside Conservative MPs who represent constituencies with similar child poverty rates – to do the right thing and cancel this cruel cut.”
