Labour responds to report showing that 2 in 5 Universal Credit recipients have been forced into a ‘spiral of debt’ by cost of living crisis

Jonathan Ashworth, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, responding to embargoed Trussell Trust report that reveals that two in five Universal Credit recipients have been forced into a ‘spiral of debt’ as their payments failed to cover cost of living crisis, said: 

"Twelve years of Tory economic failure has landed families with a devastating cost of living crisis of rocketing energy bills, price rises, punishing tax increase and the second severe cut to Universal Credit within 6 months.

“It means people - often in work - turning to food banks and weighed down with crushing debts. In recent weeks I've heard from families at food banks of the impossible choices they are making between heating and eating with for example one woman saying she can't afford to keep the electricity bills to keep her fridge on.

“The coming increase to NICs must be halted and Ministers should impose a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas producers to bring down energy bills for families struggling to get by.”