Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) boss Esther McVey didn’t have the best time in parliament on Monday 15 October. Not least because a Labour MP’s question left her visibly rattled.
The DWP: in the line of fire
McVey was answering DWP questions on Monday afternoon. As writer Alex Tiffin put in a Twitter thread, she and her ministers didn’t have an easy ride:
Esther McVey enters chamber
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) October 15, 2018
ANTI IMMIGRANT ALERT
Richard Graham Conservative claims more "foreigners" using #foodbanks.
Mcvey sidesteps saying best way out of poverty is work.
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) October 15, 2018
@DerbyChrisW says constituent is £400 worse off because of #UniversalCredit. Says Austerity is not over
Alok Sharma says stop scaremongering
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) October 15, 2018
IDIOT ALERT
Labour MP tells of constituent with severe learning disabilities losing DLA as he didn't understand letters.@SNewtonUK tells him to get constituent to "pick up the phone."
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) October 15, 2018
But, as is becoming frequently the case, it was Labour’s former shadow work and pensions secretary Debbie Abrahams who was really on point.
Is austerity over?
Private comments from McVey about Universal Credit were leaked to the Times. They suggested that she privately knew that millions of families would lose £200 a month. Since then, McVey effectively admitted on BBC News this was true. But she shrugged off the loss to families by saying people could “work” now instead.
But Abrahams wasn’t letting the issue lie. She collared McVey in parliament, putting it to her that:
One million householders; 750,000 disabled people; 600,000 working single parents; 600,000 self-employed people, and 300,000 families with three or more children will all be worse off under Universal Credit.
She then swiped at McVey, pushing her to:
finally admit that for these people austerity is far from over.
An angry Abrahams was noting Theresa May’s ridiculed claim that ‘austerity is over’. Which it clearly isn’t. But McVey followed in May’s bullshit steps, albeit looking rather rattled.
Heads in the sand
She said:
I have said, under this benefit, what we have sought to do was get more people into work. Because that is the best way out of poverty.
1mill householders, 750K disabled ppl, 600K working single parents, 600K self-employed people & 300K families with 3 or more children will be worse off under #UC.
During #DWP Q's today, I asked Esther McVey if she will finally admit that for these ppl, austerity is far from over? pic.twitter.com/rHqTj02IiI— Debbie Abrahams (@Debbie_abrahams) October 15, 2018
The opposition benches jeered at McVey. And Twitter’s reaction wasn’t much better:
Absolutely no compassion and no accountability. In a nutshell, they don't care about anyone other than themselves.
— SueBnd 🇵🇸 🇵🇸🍉 (@Thehopper7) October 15, 2018
Noticed she said fair for the taxpayer. Claimants are taxpayers, we still pay tax on our food, clothes etc.
— Retro games lover (@depresseddawg74) October 15, 2018
The weight of evidence pointing to the catastrophe Universal Credit is creating is getting vast. McVey and her colleagues are now frantically backtracking; delaying its roll out even more. But don’t be fooled. The ideological dogma behind the benefit still exists. It’s the same one that has already caused untold harm for the past eight years. These dogmatic ministers and Universal Credit both need to be stopped, and quickly. Before millions more people suffer.
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Featured image via Debbie Abrahams – Twitter and UK government – Wikimedia
