Diane Abbott Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Says Universal Credit is Causing Poverty

UNIVERSAL CREDIT - Diane Abbott says Universal Credit is creating poverty after new figures revealed 7 in 10 of Hackney's council housing tenants claiming the benefit is now in rent arrears.

As of the end of last week, 1,338 of 1,901 tenants on the government's single-payment benefit system - 70 percent - had not been able to pay their rent on time, with more than £1.5million owed.
Ms. Abbott, the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, told the Gazette newspaper the system had delivered none of the benefits the government predicted and called it "universally discredited".

The number of tenants in arrears is growing as people have switched to Universal Credit which was rolled out in Hackney a year ago.

Last week Jeremy Corbyn announced a Labour government would scrap it altogether, calling it an "unmitigated disaster" designed to "punish and police" claimants.

Ms. Abbott said: "Universal Credit is now a universally discredited policy.

"It has provided none of the benefits the Tories claimed, and the numbers of people in arrears in Hackney shows how it is causing real hardship.

"The Tories need to come clean and admit their policy creates poverty.

Image: Ms. Abbott, the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP.

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