Gauke's premium rate climbdown cold comfort

Following an announcement by Stephen Gauke that the Universal Credit hotline will be made free, Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesperson Stephen Lloyd said:

"I welcome the government's change of heart, but it is no compensation to the those on the breadline who have already been fleeced. Given the mess of Universal Credit, this is likely to become the hottest hotline in Britain.

"To even think about charging our most vulnerable citizens before they received their benefit shows just how out of touch the Conservatives are over Universal Credit.

"To prevent the car crash which is clearly heading our way over their whole UC project I urge, yet again, the government to pause the programme before it is too late and tens if not hundreds of thousands of our most vulnerable are broken on the ideological wheel of a deeply flawed and cruel new benefits initiative."

ENDS

You can read the latest Liberal Democrat policy motion on the implementation of Universal Credit here.