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TORY Health Secretary Matt Hancock was accused of lying in an desperate attempt to defend universal credit today, after he claimed none of his constituents had complained to him about it.
The West Suffolk MP said he believed people were being “helped into work more easily” after seeing the new benefits system in operation in his own constituency. He claimed to have received “no letters” raising concerns over the new benefit system.
The comments came as an analysis by Policy in Practice found that almost two in five households in receipt of benefits would lose an average of £52 a week.
Struggling homeowners, working single parents and disabled people will be among the hardest hit under the new system unless urgent action is taken in the budget, the welfare reform group warned.
Universal credit replaced a raft of different benefits with a single payment. As well as cutting payments, the roll-out of the scheme has left benefit recipients destitute thanks to payment delays.
Labour frontbencher Andrew Gwynne said of Mr Hancock’s claim that not a single constituent had raised concerns: “It’s so unbelievable, I don’t believe him!”
One constituent called Jo Anne accused Mr Hancock of having “lied through his teeth.”
She wrote on his Facebook page: “What a liar you are. I personally have emailed you twice about the fact that I have lost £40 a week moving over to UC.
“Being a parent of a disabled child as a lone parent, £40 a week loss is nearly £2,000 a year! And you have ignored my requests for a response and then go on national TV and lie about it.”
Mr Hancock has been accused by of ignoring constituents’ messages before, including a failure to respond to a local parish council in 2016.