Thread by @JamieKinlochan

If they knew what it was like to hide letters about school trips because you don’t want to stress out your mum.

If they knew what it was like to make a game out of turning everything off and hiding on the floor because the Provvy is at the door and you don’t have the money.

If they knew what it was like to be met with security guards at the JobCentre because someone has decided that you are a threat.

If they knew what it was like to ask someone to put £6 in your bank so that you could take out a tenner because you don't have chip and pin.

If they knew what it was like to pull out of your pal’s wedding last minute and ruin that relationship because you’re too embarrassed to go without money to buy them a present or a drink.

If they knew what it was like to sit opposite someone you went to school with at the council’s emergency homeless service because you have no money and no options.

They wouldn’t think twice about keeping the uplift in Universal Credit.

These are all my own experiences and it's why the removal of Universal Credit feels so personal and callous to me.

The system is broken but it can be fixed. We need to accept that people can't work their way out of poverty. Rich politicians need to stop pretending that they can.

Reflecting on the response to this thread. How generous people have been with their own experiences. We didn't go through all that shame, all that internalised embarrassment just for more people to go through it.

Also thinking about how many people have said "They do know."

If you want to check that, and need to make sure that they know, the @jrf_uk have a guide on their website for sending letters to your MP. Send them this thread too, and tell them how important it is we keep a lifeline for those who need it.

jrf.org.uk/support-keep-t…

Please especially do that if you are in England and post the responses into this thread when you get them.

Because if we tell them what it's like, if we KNOW they know, and they decide to do it anyway...the only option we have is to organise.

Spoke to my mum about this. She described welfare as a maze that was designed to make her get lost.

She used to leave for work an hour before I went to school. She'd put my uniform on the radiator and put the power card as she left the house so it'd be warm when i put it on.

She'd put my cereal in a bowl before she left the house and put the amount of sugar I liked over it so that all I had to do was add the milk. Milk we got by taking a token to the shop once a week.

So here's to all the mums on their own who navigate this grind every day.

There is also a quick and easy to use tool that @unitetheunion have put on their website so that you can email your MP. If you're seeing this, use it

@MhairiBlack is my MP. I am certain that she will be vehemently against reducing Universal Credit.

https://twitter.com/unitetheunion/status/1437052046859984898?s=19