BORIS JOHNSON has been condemned for ignoring warnings from experts and professionals after he invoked the spirit of Margaret Thatcher today to defend the £20-a-week cut to universal credit.

Asked about the impact of the cut in an interview with ITV News at the Conservative conference, Mr Johnson said: “In a famous phrase, there is no alternative. There is no alternative.

“The UK has got to, and we can do much, much better by becoming a higher-wage, higher-productivity economy.”