THE next government must end the benefits freeze and tackle the insecure gig economy to help those on stretched incomes, an anti-poverty campaign is demanding today.

Prior to December’s general election, Scotland-based Poverty Alliance is issuing its own manifesto, in which it urges the next government to help those in society who are struggling the most.

The next government must create a “more compassionate” welfare system and build a jobs market that “works for everyone,” it says.

Ending the five-week wait for claimants’ first universal credit payments; removing the two-child limit for family benefits; raising welfare amounts, including child benefit, by at least £5 per child per week; raising wages and ending zero-hour contracts are among the manifestos demands.

The next government should also implement nationwide poverty-reduction targets and undertake a legally binding commitment to maintain and strengthen workers’ rights after Brexit, it says.

There are about 14 million people in poverty  in Britain, with 8.4 million of them in households living at more than 25 per cent below the poverty line, according to the Social Metrics Commission. There is also more in-work poverty now than in previous years.

Poverty Alliance director Peter Kelly said: “It is outrageous that so many people have been swept into poverty in recent years, and figures released last week show that record numbers of people are now using foodbanks. This simply cannot go on.

“The election gives us the opportunity to look at what we can do to address this national scandal, and to place solving poverty firmly at the heart of the next government’s agenda.”

Political parties are laying out their policies ahead of the December 12 election, including those for raising the minimum wage and ending the squeeze on benefits.

Labour pledged yesterday that, in government, it would implement a “real living wage” of at least £10 an hour for millions of low-paid workers over the age of 16 that would see them get a pay boost of thousands of pounds a year by 2024.

This would mean that a worker on the minimum wage aged between 16 and 18 will be at least £6,000 better off after tax. Workers aged 25 and over will get an average pay rise of £3,444 under Labour’s calculations.

The Tory government’s current minimum wage for people 25 and over is £8.21, while for 16 to 17-year-olds it is £4.35.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Labour’s real living wage will put more money into the pockets of the workers that need it most and give a boost to the economy.

“Over the last decade the Tories have allowed in-work poverty to soar and left millions in insecure jobs.”

The Liberal Democrats also made a promise over the weekend to invest £6 billion into the welfare system by ending the two-child limit and ending the benefits cap if the party wins the general election.

It is a U-turn for leader Jo Swinson who voted for the Tories’ assault on benefits during the parties’ coalition.

She voted for the bedroom tax on social housing tenants and for capping the benefits of claimants including cancer patients and families with children.

The Green Party has pledged to increase the living wage to £12 an hour for workers over the age of 16 by 2022 as part of its “ambitious plans to tackle poverty.”