Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pose for the media in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London, Monday Nov. 27, 2017 (Picture: AP)

The Government have been accused of using the royal engagement to bury news about benefit cuts.

Yesterday, as all eyes were on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, it was announced that millions of people will have their benefits frozen for 12 months.

'Your mild cough can be someone else's death knell', Boris Johnson says

The welfare freeze, which is expected to be rolled out from April, will cost a typical working family about £300 per year.

The freeze, which equates to a real-term reduction in income for millions of people in the UK due to rising living costs, has been in place since 2015 and will impact claimants of tax credits, child benefit, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance and universal credit.




News of the working benefits freeze was announced shortly after Clarence House confirmed that Suits actress and activist Ms Markle, 36, had agreed to wed Prince Harry.

A volunteer collects food from shelves to fill a client’s voucher request at the Trussell Trust Food Bank (Picture: Getty)

Caroline Dinenage, a work and pensions minister, confirmed the controversial benefit freeze will remain in place a week after the Budget.

Liberal Democrats work and pensions spokesman Stephen Lloyd, said: ‘The Tories seem to be shamelessly using the royal engagement to bury bad news.’

Boris Johnson blames 'too many breaches' in address to the nation on new rules

He added: ‘Millions of hard-pressed families are set to be pushed over the edge into poverty by these cruel cuts.’

Ahead of Philip Hammond’s 2017 Budget announcement, thinktank the Resolution Foundation calculated that the average family with two children would be around £315 worse off due to the freeze.

Following the chancellor’s Budget, the Resolution Foundation predict half a million more people will be driven into poverty by 2020.

Volunteers at Wandsworth foodbank prepare parcels for guests from their stores of donated food, toiletries and other items on May 5, 2017 in London, England (Picture: Getty)

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that benefit entitlements could be slashed by an average of £450 per year, with 10.5 million UK households affected in the next three years.

While Labour’s shadow for work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, said the freeze showed that the PM has ‘failed to make good on her promise to help those struggling to get by, at a time when Britain is facing an unprecedented two lost decades of earnings growth.’