Again the prime minister clearly does not understand the rules. 2m people in the UK are not entitled to sick pay. In addition the bit about the living wage isn’t true. Full time on minimum wage would earn you about £300 per week.
If you are on #UniversalCredit and over 25 you currently get £411.51 per month. That’s not the equivalent of a living wage. Self isolation payments are only available to those already on benefits and as we all know when you apply for UC you have to wait 5 weeks
…for your first payment so it causes real financial hardship for those unable to work due to sickness. Also, SSP is treated as earnings for the purposes of #UniversalCredit so it’s taken off your award.
I find it extraordinary that we are this far into the pandemic and that the government has done almost nothing to help people to afford to self isolate. If you are employed you can’t get a self isolation payment even if you don’t qualify for SSP unless a local council takes
…pity on you. In the north east (according to newsnight last autumn) around 70% of applications for self isolation payments were being turned down. This is seriously hampering people’s ability to do the right thing.
The prime minister should be held to account for these untruths, it’s really unacceptable that he is basically lying to @RichardBurgon and the house.
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I’m a Universal Credit adviser at Citizens Advice. Mr Gove says on #marr that people on low incomes can live off a #UniversalCredit top up. However this depends on your circumstances. Thread.
1. If you have savings or capital over £16k then you aren’t eligible. Period. If you have savings or capital over £6000 then for every £250 you will lose £4.25 per month of UC.
2. If you have a mortgage to pay you aren’t eligible for help with your housing costs. For those who have saved up to get a deposit together and then find themselves without help, this can be hard to hear.