John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, commenting on the Times’ story about families losing £200 a month in the Universal Credit switch over, said:

“We have said time and time again that the rollout of Universal Credit should be halted to fix the many problems the Tories have created.

“Cuts to Universal Credit have already hit millions of people on low incomes hard, and the IFS has said that 75 per cent of social security cuts announced since 2015 are still to come. If the Prime Minister’s words about austerity being over are true, then the Chancellor must use the Budget later this month to reverse the cuts to some of the most vulnerable people in Britain.

“Labour will rebuild our social security system and restore the principle that it is there to provide help to those who need it, not to punish and demean them.”