Jonathan Reynolds – 2020 Comments on Universal Credit Numbers

The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, on 11 August 2020.

Britain is in the midst of a jobs crisis. As Universal Credit hits 5.5 million the Government must reconsider its position on sanctions and conditionality, which risk plunging millions into hardship and do nothing to help people back to work.

In particular, it is extremely worrying that this increase in unemployment has hit older workers, the self-employed and part-time workers hardest.

Every job lost is a tragedy and we must do all we can to safeguard people’s livelihoods. The Government must wake up to the scale of this crisis and adopt a more flexible approach targeted at the sectors who need it most.

Labour believes Universal Credit should be replaced with a system which offers a proper social security safety net and decent support to all.