Business secretary says vulnerable customers will be protected, as he distances himself from universal credit cutKwasi Kwarteng has said it “could be a very difficult winter”, with families facing rising energy bills, as he sought to distance himself f…
Child poverty now costs Britain £38bn a year, says new independent report
Despite Conservative claims to have reduced childhood deprivation, the burden on taxpayers has soared over the past eight yearsThe cost of child poverty has soared over the past eight years under the Conservatives and has now reached £38bn a year, acco…
Universal credit cut will push 800,000 people into poverty, Boris Johnson warned
Senior Tories plot to force government U-turnBoris Johnson is warned today that more than 800,000 people risk being plunged into poverty as a result of an imminent cut to universal credit, amid a plot by senior Tories to force the government into a las…
Boris Johnson is stealing Labour’s clothes? He’ll sell you a bridge too | Aditya Chakrabortty
Austerity for the poor, favours for the rich, and not a penny on frontline social care – this is truest blueNaughty Boris! You know the line and its intonation. There goes the prime minister, tearing into the tenets of Toryism with the same puppyish fe…
Universal credit cut is a cruel blow for the poor | Letters
The planned abolition of the £20 uplift is the latest attack on claimants caught in an unfair benefits system, says Mark Newbury. Plus letters from Jane Middleton and Manuela GonnermannYour editorial (14 September) is correct in highlighting the link b…
Steve Bell on Thérèse Coffey and the universal credit cut – cartoon
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UK Covid live: jabbing 12- to 15-year-olds will reduce impact of school disruption on children’s mental health – Whitty
Chris Whitty says disruption ‘extraordinarily difficult for children’ and informed decision to recommend vaccinating 12- to 15-year oldsUK children aged 12 to 15 to be offered Covid jabFully vaccinated people account for 1.2% of England’s Covid-19 deat…
Ending universal credit boost will hit sickest areas the hardest, study shows
New research finds scrapping the £1,000-a-year benefit uplift will ‘trigger mental illness and poorer health’ for thousandsScrapping the £1,000-a-year boost to universal credit next month will trigger mental illness and poorer health for thousands of p…
Marcus Rashford urges government to keep £20 universal credit top-up
Footballer and poverty campaigner says ministers should focus on efforts to end the ‘child hunger pandemic’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe footballer Marcus Rashford has urged the government to end threats to social secu…
Only bold policies will win back Labour voters | Letters
Geoff Reid urges the party to offer electoral reform, while Prof Jonathan Parker would like to see it support a universal basic income and Derrick Cameron calls for bigger ideasAndy Beckett’s call for Labour to practise “clear-sighted, ruthless politic…