Lee Anderson (right): he wants to starve the children of people on Universal Credit who can’t afford to feed them properly, it seems.

Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has made a fool of himself yet again.

In a Westminster Hall debate on the cost of food, he claimed it is a myth that people on Universal Credit are in poverty – as an excuse not to provide free school meals to everybody on the benefit.

He said some had “household incomes of over £40,000 a year” and “loopholes” in London allowed them to “top their wages up” by a further £30,000.

Maybe it’s true – but I doubt it. Universal Credit is paid to people on low incomes. For every pound earned above a defined allowance, 55p is removed from the amount a household receives.

With UC set at £334.91 a month for single claimants aged 25 or over, or £525.72 a month for joint claimants with either aged 25 or over, it is impossible for people to bring in £40k a year and still be on the benefit.

(It is also worth noting that the DWP stuck its own departmental foot in its spokesperson’s mouth when they said benefits are designed to ensure that “working always pays more” – because government policy for the last 13 years has been to push wages below the poverty level.)

Source: Tory deputy chairman claims it is a ‘myth’ people on Universal Credit are in poverty

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