£20 Credit Cut To Put 500,000 More In Poverty

‘Scrooge’ Sunak’s Budget blasted over lifeline axe

- Ben Glaze, Dan Bloom

THE poorest families will be robbed of 7% of their income when the £20-a-week Universal Credit rise is axed in October, experts warned yesterday.

They blasted “Scrooge” Chancellor Rishi Sunak for planning to strip households of the vital lifeline just as unemployment is tipped to peak and the furlough scheme is scrapped.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said the plans to end the UC rise will plunge 500,000 people into poverty, including 200,000 children.

Analysts also warned of spending cuts as the Government tries to repair the battered public coffers.