Universal Credit: Top Tory with links to 28-acre farm ‘comfortable’ with benefit cut

Cabinet minister George Eustice said ‘I do’ feel comfortable about hitting families with a double whammy of rising energy bills and a £20-a-week benefit cut

A top Cabinet Minister has claimed he is “comfortable” with hitting six million poor Brits with a £20-a-week cut – despite the energy price crisis.

Environment Secretary George Eustice, who is “a trustee of a family discretionary will trust which owns shares” in a 28-acre Cornish fruit and veg farm, backed stripping £1,040 a year from households on Universal Credit.

Asked by the BBC if he felt “comfortable” with going ahead with the welfare cut, he admitted: “You have to look at all of these things in context and yes, the answer is I do.

“Because we are seeing prices rise, yes, that is putting some pressure on household incomes.

“But more importantly we are also seeing wages rise, particularly for the lowest paid.

“It is a very tight labour market at the moment – there are over a million job vacancies at the moment, so those who want to work are finding it easy to find work.”

It comes despite more than 4million households on Universal Credit facing an energy bills hike of more than £100 a year from October 1 – within weeks of the benefit being cut.

Some 1.7million of those households are estimated to be on the most expensive pre-payment meters and could end up paying £153 more per year.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng was due to be grilled by MPs this morning over the soaring gas prices that are set to hammer family budgets at the same time as benefit cut.

The Cabinet Minister appears before the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee amid mounting fears of blackouts and spiralling costs.

Mr Kwarteng has ruled out nationalisation and is prepared to let dozens of smaller firms fail.

But he has suggested taxpayer-backed loans could be offered to larger companies which take on customers of suppliers which go bust.

Last night ministers handed over tens millions of pounds in taxpayers’ cash to resolve the carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage that has hit food supplies.

Industry figures had warned that shoppers could begin to see empty shelves within days due to a shortage of CO2, which is used in the production process for meat and some frozen goods.

The crisis was triggered when a major US-owned fertiliser firm – which produces CO2 as a by-product – halted UK production following a surge in wholesale gas prices.

The Government has brokered a deal with CF Industries to restart production. Taxpayers will fund the firm’s operating costs for up to three weeks and the money won’t have to be repaid.

Environment Secretary George Eustice admitted there were still challenges in the food supply chain but insisted that Brits would not face shortages in the run up to the festive period.

Despite the deal ending 10 weeks before Christmas he said today: “Christmas is safe, of course.”

Universal Credit’s own architect, Baroness Philippa Stroud, has warned it will hit more than 800,000 people who are teetering on the poverty line.

Yet Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey previously said she was “entirely happy” with slashing the benefit.

Asked earlier this month “are you entirely happy with this?”, Ms Coffey told Sky News: “Yes. We made this decision earlier this year, the Chancellor announced it in the Budget.

“And that’s why we’re building the update to the plan for jobs to make sure as we see the end of the furlough scheme, the support that’s happened there, as we see the end of the other support schemes… that we accelerate our plan for jobs.”