A BRADFORD campaigning group is protesting against cuts to Universal Credit, claiming more than 63,000 households in the district will see their income fall by £20 a week.

The Bradford branch of Unite the Union is calling on Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to “make the £20 permanent” and not cut the payment in his Budget on Wednesday.

JUDY WHITE of Bradford Community Branch of Unite the Union, writes:

At the end of March 63,008 households in Bradford District claiming Universal Credit will see their income fall by £20 per week.

For a single person this means the amount they have to live on after housing costs will go down from £94 per week to £74.

Sixty four per cent of those claiming Universal Credit are working, some are key workers - their wages are so low that they have to claim Universal Credit to survive.

Working tax credits - paid to workers on the lowest wages - is also due to be cut by £20.

A cut of £20 does not leave enough to live on. If it goes ahead people, including children, will go hungry, not be able to keep warm, be evicted from their homes, not be able to keep clean and well clothed.

It will lead to an increase in despair and mental ill-health. The numbers of people relying on food banks will rise further - Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank saw the demand for food bags go up by 67per cent in 2020 and expect demand to rise further if Universal Credit is cut.

‘Don’t Get Rid of the £20’ is a campaign organised by the Bradford Community Branch of Unite the Union. Members are people who are not in paid work, including some living on benefits and those who are retired.

They are lobbying MPs to put pressure on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to retain the £20 when he announces his budget next week.

The £20 uplift was made when the pandemic hit and more people found themselves having to claim Universal Credit, because it was recognised that it was not enough to live on. Twelve months on, and living costs have risen and the £20 uplift is still needed.

During the pandemic opportunities to protest are limited so members of the campaign have taken photos of themselves protesting - some of them outside job centres.

Their demand is not just to extend the £20 uplift but to keep it indefinitely. They argue that benefit levels in this country are very low and have been frozen for five years - the £20 uplift just made up some of these real term cuts.

Unemployment in the district is 9.4 per cent and economic recovery is a long way off, so tens of thousands of people in Bradford will be forced to stay on Universal Credit for the foreseeable future.

l Anyone who wants to support the campaign ‘Don’t get rid of the £20!’ can contact the group via their Facebook page: facebook.com/UniteCommunityBFD/