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A sticking plaster for a failing system that is now being painfully ripped off
The universal credit £20 uplift was only ever a short-term ‘solution’ to an ongoing structural problem, says Usdaw leader PADDY LILLIS

WHEN the Conservatives introduced universal credit (UC) back in 2011, it should have been an opportunity to build on Labour’s game-changing tax credit system. 

By consolidating various benefit systems, UC was meant to make the benefit system easier to navigate. 

The system could have brought about improvements for those most in need. The Conservatives, however, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, by severely cutting funding — hitting the poorest households hardest. 

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