Cut of £20 is more than two hours’ work and Coffey ‘either knows she’s lying or shouldn’t be in job’, says Angela Rayner
The work and pensions secretary, Thérèse Coffey, has been accused of not understanding the universal credit system after she said people who would lose £20 a week in payments next month would only have to work two hours extra to make it up.
In a round of media interviews on Monday, Coffey said she was entirely happy with the plan, which charities and others have warned will notably worsen poverty. She added that people could consider moving to better-paid sectors such as construction.