Tory Nadine Dorries claims Universal Credit cut won’t push ANYONE into poverty

The Culture Secretary made the claim despite analysis suggesting more than 5,000 working-age families will be hit in her Mid Bedfordshire seat alone

A Tory minister has been accused of not living in the real world after she claimed the Universal Credit cut will not drag a single person into poverty.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries boasted “nobody” will be driven below the poverty line when a £20-a-week Covid uplift in place since March 2020 is withdrawn from this week.

That is despite think tanks putting the worst-case estimate at around 500,000 to 800,000 people.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has said the cut risks moving 500,000 people including 200,000 children below the poverty line.

While the Legatum Institute think tank, led by Tory UC architect Baroness Stroud, says the change will hit 840,000 Brits who are currently just above the poverty line – including 290,000 children.

But ministers have no official figure for how many people will be thrown into poverty because they’ve refused to do a formal impact assessment.

And questioned by left-wing journalist Owen Jones at the Tory conference, Ms Dorries said: “Nobody. Nobody is.

“No no no, because, no Owen of course not.

“Because what we’re doing, what we’re doing is giving people a step out.

“By lifetime skills guarantee, by all the money being invested in the…” – she then walked away with an aide.

Analysis by the JRF has found more than 5,500 working-age families in Ms Dorries’ Mid Bedfordshire constituency will be affected by the cut to UC and Tax Credits.

That includes 23% of all working-age families with children (3,510) and 7% of all working-age families without children (2,030).

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “These comments show just how far away the Conservative Party is from the real world.

“Charities and foodbanks have been warning for months that taking £1,000 away from millions of families in the midst of a Conservative cost of living crisis will push children into poverty.”

The cut officially began yesterday and will kick into payments from next Wednesday.

Boris Johnson did not mention it once in his 45-minute conference speech which was peppered with jokes.

Katie Schmuecker of the JRF said yesterday: “The Prime Minister has not had the guts to look the millions of people whose incomes are being cut today in the eye and tell them how they are expected to get through the year ahead.

“The Prime Minister’s attempt to strike an upbeat tone is completely at odds with the despair people are feeling and the cost-of-living crisis we are now facing.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey was asked the same question as Ms Dorries by Owen Jones.

She replied: “Well it was always a temporary uplift, and that’s why no impact assessment was done when we knew it was temporary.

“We are investing in the plan for jobs, we’ve also got the household support fund… we want to try and see what’s going on, what it is we can to help people with the skills so they can absolutely take advantage of higher-paid jobs.”