How will Blackpool North candidates ensure the Universal Credit reform takes place?

Blackpool Gazette

The Blackpool Gazette and Blackpool Lead invited the candidates standing for the Blackpool North constituency at next month's general election to a hustings in which they fielded questions from voters.    The candidates standing for election on 4th July were each given 90 seconds to answer questions from an audience at a Cleveleys venue.    Six out of the eight people on the ballot took part in the event with Jeannine Creswell (Social Democratic Party) missing and a stand-in taking the place of the absent Lorraine Beavers.  In order of appearance on stage:  PAUL MAYNARD (Conservative Party) JAMES RUST (Monster Raving Loony Party) GITA GORDON (Independent) BILL GREENE (Liberal Democrats) TINA ROTHERY (Green Party) DAN BARKER (Reform UK) CLIVE GRUNSHAW (Labour [Stand-in])

Transcript

00:00In this constituency, and throughout the final course, who are on universal credit, they

00:06are the most vulnerable people that we have. And what I'd like you to tell me is, what

00:13are you going to do to make sure that the universal credit reform takes place so that

00:19people who are the most vulnerable and marginalised actually are able to afford some basic necessities?

00:29Thank you.

00:35So, Reform UK's policy is about making work paid for. We're going to raise the threshold

00:41to £20,000. That will bring 7 million people out of tax, giving them on average £3,000

00:47per year, which will mean there will be a lot less people on benefits because people

00:51are stuck in a benefits trap where it's not worth working more than 16 hours a week or

00:56you lose your benefits, so they stay on the benefits, they're in this trap. We want to

01:00give them the way out of that, we want to make work pay for those who are on the lowest

01:03pay in the country, which means then we would have more money to look at people who need

01:08that safety net, who need credit, who aren't going to be able to get back to work, rather

01:12than the 9.2 million people we've got now who are productive, a working age, who are

01:17not working. For whatever reason, some of those are genuine, a vast number of them,

01:22I would say, are not.

01:27When I was working, I was working for a company called Hewlett-Packard, and we were directly

01:34involved with the development of the software related to Universal Credit, and when it initially

01:41was developed and thought about, it was going to give you what you wanted and what you were

01:47trying to talk about, but basically it's been chopped and chopped and chopped, and you're

01:53back around again to the same things, that we have all the problems. The economy's been

01:59screwed by the Conservatives. We've got to change that, otherwise we can't afford anything.

02:10So it's about demonising people again, the ones who are unable to work and rely on welfare.

02:18What about taxing the people who are not paying enough, and what about the windfall taxes?

02:25What about getting money from there? Why prosecute the poor?

02:34So Universal Credit is probably the centrepiece of our welfare state, and it's really important

02:39that that functions well and delivers on its policy intentions. While we've been increasing

02:44Universal Credit by the rate of inflation for the past two years, it's really important.

02:49My concern and observations, as I've worked as a minister in that very department, is

02:53that there are so many other pots of money in the welfare system, other benefits, that

02:58people don't always access as much as they might other do. I'm in charge of pension

03:02credit, for example. It drives me mad, the fact that there are three quarters of a million

03:06people out there eligible for pension credit who are not claiming it. So we need to make

03:10sure that people are made aware of what it is that they can obtain. It isn't just about

03:15Universal Credit. There are many other benefits beside, which often go unclaimed. So we need

03:20to make sure that everybody gets targeted support to claim what they're entitled to.

03:31The Conservative government is systematically underfunded. The benefits system and the public

03:37sector and the infrastructure of the country for the last 14 years. They've created a mess

03:43in every service, from the NHS, the homes and the roads, the sewage, and even within

03:49the benefits system. Because fundamentally, they don't believe in it. They believe in

03:53the small state solution. They believe in this, you know, you can drive down the estate

03:59because they don't use it, do they? Because they're the party for the wealthy. Well, actually

04:04in this constituency, there's an awful lot of people that are dependent on those benefits

04:10because of the lack of jobs and the lack of investment and the lack of care that is being

04:15given to people within this constituency. And that is what we need to do. We need to

04:20drive up the jobs and investment and actually start caring for people rather than just because

04:26we don't use those services, we don't need them.

04:30One of the questions we should ask ourselves is who is that benefit for? Because when you

04:36work full-time at Tesco, you will still need a top-up from Universal Credit. So if we're

04:42doing that, then why is Tesco getting away with paying so little that those people on

04:47full-time hours require a top-up from the rest of us? That is a loony party decision.

04:56So yes, I've got one, sorry. I was suggesting that that was behind it.

05:03There is one thing I suppose. Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you

05:12can do for your country. Because you're self-reliant.

05:15So everybody's fit, able and it's possible for them to get into a well-paid job and not

05:20require help. I require help. I can't afford to live on the benefits.

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