UNIVERSAL CREDIT SCANDAL

Don’t let Northumberland’s Tories off the hook because their Government Abstained!

This week the spinning top u-turning Tories in Parliament decided to hide behind a supposedly free vote and abstain against a Labour motion to retain the £20 top up of Universal Credit after April 2021.

The Government top up of benefit paid out to 5.7M families is planned to face a cut from April 12^th of £85.05 per month, approximately the average cost of food shopping for a family of four.* The abstention allows the Government to put off its decision to embed an increase into Universal Credit until April.

Here in Northumberland a similar motion was laid before the Council by the Labour Party an its televised meeting on 6^th January 2021 with the gung ho Tories voting down the motion asking the Council to press Government to retain the increased payment to those in need.

The Tories a minority administration at County Hall is made up a number of pseudo barons who were baying for the blood of the poor, forgetting they are democratically elected to represent everyone in their wards and that even in Tory voting wards people now claim universal credit in high numbers because of their own Governments poor handling of the pandemic and Brexit arrangements.

Viewers who have commented to us at Murky say they were shocked when the two Councillors for Prudhoe the area with the highest deprivation figures outside the South East of the County and the rural coalfield voted this motion down, with both Councillor Ken Stow and the man who is regularly photographed doing the job of a litter picker although he is a very highly paid member of the County Council cabinet, Councillor Gordon Stewart whose ward is exposed to all the deprivation problems of an ex industrialised area, gloated as he voted.

Two Towns now blighted by ‘new deprivation’ caused by Tory mismanagement, Haltwhistle and Hexham saw its Councillors carry out an assault on their neighbours, in the case of Councillors Homer and Cessford who aired superiority on the subject and their former neighbours in Haltwhistle as the now Blyth based lover boy Councillor Ian Hutchinson stabbed those in need through his vote with the bumbling rural based Rupert Gibson following suit.

The Labour Party tell us they didn’t expect any other from the Cramlington based Tories and reading the graffiti in Morpeth residents themselves expected the Castle Morpeth mob to be anti-social and treat anyone who is in dire straits as lepers.

Our Labour colleagues also commented on the Tories from the North who scream and shout regularly when Labour speak about child deprivation in the South East and rural coalfield areas that they also have rural poor. According the recently released figures the rural poor have increased by 450% yet those same Conservatives voted NOT to support them.

1)     There’s about to be a major shift in emphasis by the County Council where officers and workers have had a bad time with the Tories in Northumberland, the elected Tories have been accused of bullying, racism, corruption and dodgy land dealing and more, they are being investigated by a multi disciplinary task force. Which will report in the public domain shortly.

2)     In a few days time, everyone in the County who does not have a postal vote will be offered the opportunity to sign up for postal voting to try and get the elections in May completed on time. After all of these debacles by Northumberland Tories take the opportunity to sign up and show your distaste of their actions against you and your neighbours over the last four years through the ballot box.

 

Labours notes to help benefit claimants

 

If you're a parent struggling to cover your bills, you may be entitled to extra financial support. See what you're entitled to below.

If you're on a low income, you may be able to claim income support, jobseeker's allowance (JSA), or housing benefit - which can help with rent.

·         If you're on sick leave because of coronavirus but don't qualify for sick pay, you can get a one off £500 covid support payment from the government.

·         The Healthy Start scheme supports parents with food vouchers. You qualify if you’re 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four and get income support or another benefit. Payment vouchers start from £3.10 a week.

·         Make sure you seek help from the Council and claim Council Tax benefit

·         You can get free NHS dental treatment if you're pregnant when you start your treatment. To get free NHS dental treatment, you must have a MATB1 certificate issued by your midwife or GP and a valid prescription maternity exemption certificate (MatEx).

·         You're also entitled to free NHS dental treatment for 12 months after your baby arrives. To prove your entitlement, you will need to show a valid maternity exemption certificate, a notification of birth form (your midwife will give you this form) and your baby's birth certificate.

·         Eligible employees can also take up to 52 weeks’ maternity leave. The first 26 weeks is known as ‘Ordinary Maternity Leave’ and the last 26 weeks as 'Additional Maternity Leave'. The first 6 weeks is paid at 90% of average weekly earnings (AWE) before tax while the remaining 33 weeks is £151.20 or 90% of their AWE (whichever is lower). These are the rules for those claiming Shared Parental Leave instead.

·         If your child is below the age of 18 and you don't live with another adult, you can apply for 25% off your council tax.

·         All parents can claim Child Benefit. This is a state subsidy of £21.05 a week for your first child and £13.95 a week for subsequent children.

·         If you've a three or four year old child, you can register for the government's 30 hours free childcare scheme on top.

·         The Care to Learn scheme can help with childcare costs for parents still in education. It's £160 per child per week if you live outside London or £175 per child per week if you live in London. All payments will go directly to your childcare provider.

·         As well as the above, there are also water bill discounts, free prescriptions, free school travel (and uniform relief) and energy bill discounts that you can claim.

*     https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk-household-cost-food#week