LIZ Truss is reportedly preparing to U-turn on plans to make a real-terms cut to benefits payments.
The Prime Minister may now increase benefits to keep payments in line with inflation.
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This could mean benefits payments will increase by about 10 per cent.
If a single claimant under 25 receives the standard £265.31 a month in Universal Credit – they could now get £291.84 a month.
For single claimants over 25 receiving £334.91 a month – this would rise to £368.40.
It is yet to be confirmed whether Ms Truss will in fact U-turn on the plan to kerb benefit increases.
The Prime Minister had planned to raise benefits in line with UK earnings – an increase of 5.5 per cent according to July’s statistics.
However, this is 4.4 per cent lower than the latest rate of inflation which was 9.9 per cent in August.
It would mean a real-terms pay cut leaving millions of Brits hundreds of pounds out of pocket from April 2023.
This is because if incomes don’t rise at the same rate as prices, it leaves people worse off and is in effect a pay cut.
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For instance, Universal Credit claimants under 25 receiving the standard allowance – a rise in line with wages instead of inflation would see payments drop by £140.04 in real terms next year.
Those over the age of 25 would see their payments drop by £176.88 in real terms.
On Sunday Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi said the Prime Minister “will always be on the side of helping the most vulnerable”.
And he stressed that no decision has been made on whether to uprate benefits in line with inflation – confirming Liz Truss has yet to officially U-turn on the plans.
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, he said: “Liz Truss will always be on the side of helping the most vulnerable.
“No decisions have been made on the benefits uprating.”
Ms Truss has repeatedly claimed no decision had been made on whether to stick to the inflation-linked benefit rise, due to come into force in April.
One Cabinet minister told The Sunday Times that any decision by the Prime Minister to reverse Boris Johnson’s commitment to increase benefits in line with inflation was “not a political reality”.
The paper said Ministers will “ambush” the Prime Minister with their demands at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
It comes as The Sun on Sunday revealed how Tory rebels are holding secret talks with Labour to mount guerrilla warfare against Liz Truss’s benefit cut plans.
But hitting back at the rebels, Home Secretary Suella Braverman told The Sun on Sunday the plotters risk handing the keys to No10 to Sir Keir Starmer.
It follows an announcement that Brits will receive their £324 cost of living payment on November 8.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
