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Universal Discredit: The Tory Disgrace

A Tale of Two Countries; All Within One Border

By Joe SouthwoodPublished 5 years ago 5 min read
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Ian Duncan Smith will not be neatly preserved by the pickling jar of time. His undoubtedly scaly skin will be further distressed from him being the third Tory Titan to fall to Blair. His already bald scalp will be stripped tighter by his sweetheart’s scandalous salary. His grisly cackle will be encapsulated by his fairytale accolades and achievements. But the dash that will finally turn the sweet cucumber into a bitter pickle will be his implementation of universal credit.

The concept is simple: save timed money by shifting six existing weekly or fortnightly benefits into a single, monthly payment. Apply online—it is digital by default—or have previous claims automatically moved over following a reassessment, it could not be easier. Efficient, clear, contemporary. The only issue is that this is not actually what happened. Following £12 billion of investment into creating the scheme, the current mix of universal credit trials, rolled out UC and separated benefits within even the same post-code has launched the Department for Work and Pensions into a task they may see as crossing the Delaware—even though the real world finds it far easier to liken it to Columbus' accidental invasion. Whether it be the entrapping regulations on claimants, the complete disunity of all organisations involved, the lethal processing period or the disillusionment of the assessors, the entire mechanism is falling apart. The system put in place to save those on their knees is now itself resting its heavy head on its sodden palms.

Throughout a half hour phone call charged at 55p per minute, the claimant is probed with all manner of intrusive and personal—some may say unnecessary—questions to determine their eligibility. During a recent Women and Equalities committee meeting in Parliament, claimants argued that these were simply "tick box" queries with no substance, designed to reduce the individual's payments upon enrollment. Does your wallet fancy saving itself £15 from the money it doesn't even have? Then simply go along to an interview in a job centre or other application point. However, the claimant must not refuse any paid work as means for eligibility. So for the five million people in the UK employed within the gig economy, many of whom require further benefits to supplement their tuppence from the Übermensch or Deliveroo Despot, this means they are simply unable to attend these assessments through fear of, subsequently, rendering themselves ineligible. There’s such thing as a catch 22, but this is merely shooting yourself in the foot whilst simultaneously running towards the firing squad. Because of this, millions of potential receivers of this universal discredit are blocked out of it by the very reason they require it. Furthermore, even if they do manage to leap through the rings of fire, claimants as part of low income families are liable to lose up to £200 per month following their shift from their potentially six individual benefits to the new singular payment.

The next woe is not one of economics or politics, but a destruction of all that is moral and just. Disability Rights UK research unearthed that disabled or severely ill applicants will likely lose between £28 and £58 per week following the transition. This means that those who are in the most need, the most deserving, the most at risk are being thrown under the bus for the sake of paradoxical bureaucratic streamlining. No government or party is guilt free—however, it would appear the current top dogs seek to shout down those who cannot shout back for the sake of beneficial statistics and beautiful soundbites. “Universal credit will save the government five and a half billion pounds” they bellow. “Universal credit leads to suicide, depression, and addiction,” they snub.

Even if, due to nothing but sheer luck, a claimant manages to squeeze themselves onto the system, they will not receive any money. Another hidden perk of universal cred(sh)it is an undefined period of nothing. No payment. No contact. No aid. Most will experience a six week latency of welfare, but some have gone up to eight months. This is not due to administration, it is a legislated minimum 42 day waiting period—a void of assistance and an absence of value, a desolation of the network that has safely and systematically saved countless citizens from destitution. Although it would be unfair to say there is no assistance over this period, "advance payments" can be acquired.

Fantastic. A solution. However the devil is in the detail. These payments must then be repaid from the very first benefit onwards, a debt to loom over the indebted like a rogue sprinkler on a rainy grass. Couple this with rent arrears, dues to families, and backward bills for utilities accrued over the transition period, the universal credit monthly sum is reduced even further by the tally of traps laid before. The government cannot be blamed for this though, the repayments of these loans will be a lovely helping hand to the £12 billion investment into the shoddy system they have so hideously failed on.

A government that runs and is sustained by the trialling of truth, the separation of sincerity or the disbelief of disbelievers is Machiavellian, undemocratic, uncouth, and frankly abhorrent. This is what universal credit generates: lies, fiction, and terror.

This cannot be allowed to continue. This is nothing but an attack on the poorest in our country from a government that intentionally provides tax cuts and loopholes to the very wealthiest, amounting to hundreds of billions of pounds. The solution is clear. Home in on tax avoiders. Make the biggest companies pay their fair share. End the cycle of corporation tax rate slashes. Heavily regulate the banks. Introduce a new, true, living wage. Fund schools. Fund hospitals. No, it will not shred our economy, it will not end enterprise, it will not cease innovation. It will generate a new era for society, it will pave the way for safety and for health, it will trigger true development. Universal discredit is nothing but the beginning of the end for anyone who was not born receiving a prostate exam from silver cutlery, it is the launch of a new age of feudalism. It is the birth of the Neo-Gentry; just like history tells us, no change will come until the many make a few heads roll.

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About the Creator

Joe Southwood

An eclectic collection of content: from social policy to pubs, economics to films.

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