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MARTIN Lewis has urged Rishi Sunak to extend the £20 a week Universal Credit boost to the millions of people that are on the old benefits system. The MoneySavingExpert founder went head-to-head with the Chancellor in an exclusive interview for the Martin Lewis Money Show. In his Budget this week, Mr Sunak confirmed that Universal Credit claimants will continue to get the £20 a week uplift to their payments for another six months. People on Working Tax Credits will also get a one-off £500 payment . But ministers have so far rejected calls to hike payments for other older benefits that haven’t yet been replaced by Universal Credit. Speaking to the Chancellor, Martin read out a message from one viewer called Claire who asked why she isn’t receiving the same level of support for her adult disabled son. She said: “There are legacy benefits who haven’t been given the support. Why not and will you look at changing that please?” Her question was echoed by the … [Read more...] about Martin Lewis urges Rishi Sunak to extend £20 a week Universal Credit boost to millions on old benefit system

The poorest families will be robbed of 7% of their income when the £20-a-week Universal Credit rise is axed from October, experts warned today. Campaigners blasted Chancellor Rishi Sunak for planning to strip hard-up households of the vital lifeline just as unemployment is tipped to peak and the furlough scheme is scrapped. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said the plans to end the uplift in Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit in September - when the furlough scheme also ends - will see half a million people, including 200,000 children, plunged into poverty. Resolution Foundation think-tank chief executive Torsten Bell said: “It's a very bad idea to be removing the temporary uplift to Universal Credit right at the end of September. “That's going it exactly when unemployment is expected to rise. “It's taking away seven per cent of the incomes of the poorest families in Britain in the second half of this year. “The Chancellor shouldn't be doing that. It will also take … [Read more...] about Budget Universal Credit cut to take 7% of poor families’ cash and put 500k in poverty

As the coronavirus vaccine rollout continues, with 16 million already jabbed, the country can finally begin to see a way out of the pandemic which put normal life on hold for a year. Rightly, the Government has focused all its efforts on tackling the crisis and saving lives. But when the country emerges from lockdown and the crisis begins to ebb, thoughts will turn to how Tory election promises made in December 2019 – just weeks before Britain's first confirmed Covid-19 case was discovered – can be delivered. Here, Deputy Political Editor Ben Glaze examines the scale of the challenge. Boris Johnson is today urged to deliver on “levelling-up” promises to Northern voters as the country begins to look beyond the coronavirus pandemic. The Prime Minister was warned he owes a debt to Red Wall voters in former Labour heartlands who were seduced by his election pledges on tackling Britain's inequality. The 64-page Conservative Party manifesto contained 11 references to … [Read more...] about Neglected North where ‘even McDonald’s has left’ demands PM delivers on promises

Rishi Sunak "isn't really levelling with people" about painful cuts that will be needed to repair the public finances, according to budget analysis by a respected economic think-tank. Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director said "Santa Sunak… looks more like Scrooge Sunak" under plans for a squeeze totalling more than £50bn compared to the pre-pandemic outlook. That is the scale of spending cuts and tax rises over coming years compared to what the chancellor outlined in his first budget a year ago - implying a spending outlook that seems "implausibly low", Mr Johnson said. "The chancellor isn't really levelling with people about the choices the government is making to repair the public finances," he added. Mr Johnson characterised the plans outlined by Mr Sunak as a "tale of two budgets" with £65bn more coronavirus-related spending and a "super-deduction" tax break for investment followed by fiscal belt-tightening of £30bn, adding further to a squeeze outlined in … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: Chancellor accused of ‘not levelling with people’ over plans

MOVIE director Jared Hess was just six years old when a series of bombings rocked the Mormon Church in America. He was living in London, his dad was bishop of the Hyde Park Ward of Latter-day Saints, and Jared had no idea then that events halfway around the world would hang over his life. Two people were killed, a community was terrified and a global movement was questioned - yet few of those involved have spoken about it since. Now Jared, the man behind comedy films Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, has made a groundbreaking Netflix series about the story behind the killings in Salt Lake City, Murder Among the Mormons. It’s hard to imagine the fear that enveloped the Mormon church at the time. It’s this atmosphere of terror that the three-part documentary, produced by BBC Studios, attempts to capture with grainy original footage from the time. Jared, who has served a mission for the church and became interested in the bombings as a teen, said : “People were … [Read more...] about Netflix’s Murder Among the Mormons tells shocking true story of Salt Lake City bombings, polygamy and angels