A GLASGOW man has told how the planned cut to Universal Credit will plunge him in to “crushing poverty” after being made redundant at the start of the pandemic.

Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, detailed the man’s situation in a statement to the Commons this afternoon.

She read an email from her constituent, named only John, which stated that he had been made redundant and the only thing preventing him from being destitute was the additional £20 a week in universal credit the government has implemented since the start of the pandemic.

The extra money is due to come to an end on September 30, which campaigners and MPs say will force thousands of people below the breadline.

Ms Thewliss told MPs: “I want to read this email from John, because he puts this so very well.

“He says ‘I wanted to write you’re a short note to tell you that cutting back on the UC uplift is going to have a very hard consequence on me. I was laid off at the start of the pandemic when the company I was working for closed down.

“With the uplift, I am receiving about £300 to last me nearly five weeks, and the government talks like this is a favour done to us.

“Firstly I, and all those on Universal Credit, are not responsible for the pandemic. And secondly, the pandemic is not over yet. There could be further strains and further lockdowns. What then, for people like me?

“Also benefits have not gone up for years and years, while the prices and the cost of living has. Therefore, it's actually a benefit cut. It will mean a difference for me between just getting by and crushing poverty.”

Ms Thewliss said all MPs should consider this when they vote on the cut to universal credit, adding: “That choice will be faced by people up and down this country and every single person in this house has a responsibility to think of each and every one of them when we vote on this issue, because that's the difference between just getting by and crushing poverty.”

She was speaking during an opposition day debate by the Labour party on the financial impact of the current government’s polices.

Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Bridget Phillipson opened the debate, accusing the Tories of allowing “issues to fester” rather than take action to prevent crises such as the cost of living.

She said: “In our country today working families face a sudden squeeze on living standards on a scale not seen for a generation.

“Incomes are coming down, prices are going up, especially energy prices, taxes are going up, rents are going up, childcare costs are going up, fuel costs are going up, rail fares are going up. And with empty shelves in too many shops, restaurants closing because of meat shortages, and now refrigerant shortages putting Christmas at risk, it isn’t just that people can afford less, there is also less to afford.

“The people of Britain face an extraordinary squeeze on their living standards this winter. Not simply by chance, but because of the choices made by Conservative governments, this year, last year, and in the 10 years before. Now it is not some tragic, unforeseeable series of unhappy accidents that brought us here today. It is a string of choices which this Government has made.”

Treasury minister Simon Clarke told the Commons the Government had “safeguarded working people’s finances” during the pandemic.

He said: “Over the last 18 months, safeguarding working people’s finances has been our defining mission and we have succeeded in that task, just today the OECD economic outlook says that they expect the UK to see that fastest economic growth in the G7, both this year and next.

“The IMF has described the UK’s policy response as ‘aggressive’ and one of the best examples of co-ordinated action globally, helping to mitigate the damage done by the pandemic and holding down unemployment and insolvency.”

Labour also faced criticism from several conservative MPs, who claimed they had no alternative plan to help the country recover economically from the pandemic.

Conservative Dr Caroline Johnson MP said: “There is no plan from the Opposition. The Opposition are not giving any plan on what they would do instead. They simply criticise. They simply say we must spend more, we must tax less, but how does the honourable lady propose to do such a thing?”

Ms Phillipson said: “The single biggest difference that we all of us could make right now would be to cancel the cut to Universal Credit.”

She described ending the Universal Credit uplift as “indefensible”.