by Ceren Sagir
in central London

THOUSANDS of people stormed the streets nationwide yesterday in a mass fightback to stop universal credit (UC).

The Unite Community demonstration saw campaigners gather outside multiple sites, including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) headquarters in London, where they called on Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd to hear their voices.

Unite Community chairwoman for Bromley and Croydon Paula Peters said: “UC is ideologically designed to cause mass stress and harm and to ramp up poverty and hunger.

“There are 8.4 million people who are struggling to feed themselves and 4 million in poverty — including many disabled people.

“A third do not have a computer or the skills set to use one and need support, yet libraries are being shut down and computers are being removed from those that remain.

“This is a vital lifeline for people to access justice for themselves and yet another barrier to exclude disabled people.

“UC is a devastating policy, plunging people into further poverty. We call on everyone to join the campaign to stop and scrap the system.”

The protest also heard testimonies from people who have been affected by UC, including Chloe who had come across the protest by chance.

She told the crowd how her mum was struggling to look after her three children, one of whom is an eight-year-old with autism and a feeding peg in his stomach.

The young woman spoke about her mother’s dilemma of wanting to work and cater for the family but the difficulty of this with disabled children.

Campaigners also gathered in Euston in the morning to say no to holiday hunger for schoolchildren who are not able to receive free school meals during the summer holidays.

The loss of free school meals adds up to between £30 to £40 a week to parents’ outgoings, according to Unite.

During the first six weeks of May and June, 79 per cent of the 2,055 people who responded to a Unite survey said they struggle to make ends meet during school holidays.

Nearly 70 per cent of parents said they skip meals while 41 per cent said they have to rely on foodbanks.

Unite Community North West regional co-ordinator Sheila Coleman said: “It is shameful that on a sunny summer’s day, children, instead of having days at the seaside, are spending their holidays being fed by charity.

“Foodbanks, community centres and schools are helping to keep poor children alive. This is in 21st-century Britain, one of the richest countries.”

Ms Coleman said that the problem was not the north-south divide, but class division and the “few haves and the many have-nots.”

She said: “It is truly heartbreaking listening to people on the streets of Liverpool, Manchester and beyond, recounting their lived experiences of applying and waiting for universal credit.

“Unite Community’s day of action against holiday hunger met with a great response in Liverpool city centre, Manchester and around the region.

“Pamphlets advising people how to negotiate the corrupt, unworkable system of UC proved very popular. Local CLP members and a number of Labour councillors joined in the event in Liverpool.

“UC remains unworkable in spite of Tory lies to the contrary. The proof is out there on our streets. This is a fight we have to win.”

The government has claimed UC will make things better for claimants, which has not been the case since it was rolled out, and it has disproportionately affected disabled people.

The Tory flagship system has caused tens of thousands of people to fall into debt, rent arrears and become reliant on foodbanks, with Unite calling it a “plague” pushing more people into poverty.

Tory ministers have nevertheless spent more than £225,000 on “misleading” advertorials praising UC in the Metro newspaper, an investigation revealed on Wednesday.

Disabled People Against Cuts Sheffield’s Jennifer Jones said the “frivolous” spend of much-needed funds was “an insult to everyone suffering under UC and DWP policies.”

Ms Jones said: “If the Tory government, and UC director Neil Couling think that the British public are stupid enough to swallow propaganda and lies like this they’re sorely mistaken.  

“We warned that we’re not taking this paid-for attempt at public manipulation and we meant it. We will collectively put a stop to this. This government is sick and the only cure is a general election.”

Campaigners are demanding that the government abandon the long waits for claimants to receive money, allow people to apply for welfare at the jobcentre and not just online, and to provide people with better help when the system fails them.