Twenty signatories to a letter to the Daily Telegraph argue that cuts being debated by MPs as part of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill will make low-income working families worse off and penalise disabled people who are taking their first steps back to work.
Along with UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis, signatories of the letter include Paul Parker, recording clerk at Quakers in Britain, Church Action on Poverty director Niall Cooper, Family Rights Group CEO Cathy Ashley and Jonathan Arkush, President, Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The letter states that “the extensive cuts being debated by MPs this week as part of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill include restricting child tax credits, removing the work-related activity component of the Employment and Support Allowance and further reducing the benefit cap.
“Despite a welcome increase in the minimum wage, it is now widely understood that this Bill will make low-income working families worse off and penalise disabled people who are taking their first steps back to work.
“An effective social safety net based on dignity and compassion is vital in any just society, yet this Bill will make the lives of already vulnerable households ever more precarious.”