Thread by @CPAGUK

THERAD on the UN Special Rapporteur's statement on UK poverty. 'Key elements of the post-war Beveridge social contract are being overturned. In the process, some good outcomes have certainly been achieved, but great misery has also been inflicted unnecessarily ... (1/7)

'...especially on the working poor, on single mothers struggling against mighty odds, on people with disabilities who are already marginalized, and on millions of children.' Hard-hitting stuff from @Alston_UNSR
at the end of his investigation into the UK. (2/7)

He notes that the #benefitcap, #twochildlimit and #bedroomtax have 'made it much harder for people to make ends meet' and is particularly critical of Chancellor's refusal to lift the benefits freeze while raising income tax thresholds that don't 'move the needle' on poverty (3/7)

Of course there is a lot about #universalcredit. The rationale for the 5-week wait is 'illusory', people feel forced to 'jump through hoops', the payment system is 'flexible and unresponsive', and many are excluded from an effectively 'online only' system (4/7)

And he raises real concerns about the sanctions regime, and people's access to justice in a system which makes automated and opaque decisions, especially at a time when legal aid for benefits cases has been cut and specialist advice services are underfunded. (5/7)

Finally he hits out at the philosophical underpinnings of the 'dismantling' of the social safety net which has taken place this decade, and the way in which changes have acted to marginalise the working poor and those unable to work. (6/7)

Overall he makes a devastating critique of the government's denial of the scale of these problems, and ends with calls for serious action. Lots to read - far more than covered here - in the full statement - do read it at ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/… (7/7)

Oops - tweet 4 should have said that the payment system is 'INflexible and unresponsive'!