
The Socialist 20 June 2018
Save our NHS

Desperate divisions in Tories - Corbyn and unions must act
Tory cash boost not enough - save our NHS
No to Trump's climate change chaos
Universal Credit delivers claimant misery
Seattle council repeals Amazon Tax
1000 issues of the Socialist: A vital weapon standing in proud traditions
Greetings from readers of the Socialist
How do we produce the Socialist?
DWP surrenders to union pressure - now vote Yes to smash pay cap for everyone
Rolls-Royce: fight all job cuts!
GMB union: NHS reps reject Tory pay offer
McStrikers and young workers take centre stage at bakers' union 2018 conference
Northern Rail strike reaches 21 days of action to save guards
Miners demand end to pensions robbery
Yorks NHS workers fight outsourcing
Unite agrees NSSN affiliation - come to the NSSN conference!
Tamil Solidarity Day: intense, lively, thought-provoking
Grenfell disaster: one year on, still no prosecutions, still no adequate housing..
Organisers' school - an opportunity to educate and discuss
Leeds: Disability campaigners force council to retreat
Wrenford centre: Stop heartless Tory cuts
Knowsley council pushed back on cuts and privatisation
Orgreave - no justice, no peace
Inspirational account of young Marx's political battles
Rousing, funny take on Marxism - from the man himself
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Universal Credit delivers claimant misery and will cost more than it saves
Fight for liveable benefits, real support and decent jobs
Karen Seymour, Mansfield Socialist Party
The government's flagship welfare reform, Universal Credit, has been well and truly savaged by the National Audit Office. It says the £1.9 billion scheme is a disaster for claimants, and will end up costing far more than it saves!
Rolling six working-age benefits into one, Universal Credit was sold as a way of making the system fairer. Its real aims are to slash spending on welfare, and to 'punish' those seen as not doing enough to find employment.
Evidence is mounting that Universal Credit causes real hardship through delays to payments, cuts to support, evictions and an even more inhumane sanctions regime, which will now pressure part-time workers to find more hours!
The National Audit Office says the government is never likely to know whether its aim of getting 200,000 more people into work will be realised.
In my view, as a welfare rights adviser, Universal Credit is deliberately designed to wear people down. Depression cases will rise even further among claimants as they desperately try to free themselves from a system dubbed the 'lobster pot'.
One claimant told the BBC: "It drove me to depression as I had never needed anything like that in the past. I felt helpless and worthless. It would appear to me that Universal Credit is designed to be very difficult and give people as little as possible."
The National Audit Office thinks there have been too many changes to job centres and working practices for Universal Credit to be scrapped. Rubbish! Stop it immediately, and replace with a system of liveable benefits and proper support to find employment, without compulsion.
Labour must call for this instead of bemoaning how bad the system is. There must also be an end to the persecution and demonisation of welfare claimants, who are victims of a capitalist regime only interested in looking after the 1%.
The Socialist Party fights to replace Universal Credit with liveable benefits, proper support to find work without compulsion and decent jobs with an immediate £10 an hour minimum wage.
In this issue
What we think
Desperate divisions in Tories - Corbyn and unions must act
News
Tory cash boost not enough - save our NHS
No to Trump's climate change chaos
Universal Credit delivers claimant misery
International socialist news and analysis
Seattle council repeals Amazon Tax
1000 issues of the Socialist
1000 issues of the Socialist: A vital weapon standing in proud traditions
Greetings from readers of the Socialist
How do we produce the Socialist?
Workplace
DWP surrenders to union pressure - now vote Yes to smash pay cap for everyone
Rolls-Royce: fight all job cuts!
GMB union: NHS reps reject Tory pay offer
McStrikers and young workers take centre stage at bakers' union 2018 conference
Northern Rail strike reaches 21 days of action to save guards
Miners demand end to pensions robbery
Yorks NHS workers fight outsourcing
Unite agrees NSSN affiliation - come to the NSSN conference!
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Tamil Solidarity Day: intense, lively, thought-provoking
Grenfell disaster: one year on, still no prosecutions, still no adequate housing..
Organisers' school - an opportunity to educate and discuss
Leeds: Disability campaigners force council to retreat
Wrenford centre: Stop heartless Tory cuts
Knowsley council pushed back on cuts and privatisation
Orgreave - no justice, no peace
Opinion
Inspirational account of young Marx's political battles
Rousing, funny take on Marxism - from the man himself
Home | The Socialist 20 June 2018 | Join the Socialist Party
Related links:
Make the super-rich pay, not the poorest
No surprise, poverty is rising
What will the spending review mean for me?
Don't let Tories starve our kids
Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick factory future secured following strike action
A day in the life of an agency worker
Exams scrapped again - young people need a future with jobs and free education
Nottingham City Council: Major battles against cuts ahead
Books that inspired me: The Road to Wigan Pier
Life in lockdown - being home from school when you're poor is hard
Bosses profit out of 'starvation' food parcels
Film: 'Sick' - 'They've got people looking in the wrong direction'
Greenwich Unite criticises privatisation of welfare services