NEWPORT West MP Ruth Jones has queried the ending of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit in the House of Commons.

She asked the secretary of state for the Department of Work and Pensions for a meeting to discuss the impact of the policy on her constituents.

Ms Jones, a Labour MP, says that around 9,000 families will be affected in Newport West, with 5,905 being children.

The £20 uplift to Universal Credit was introduced last year as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Conservative ministers wanted to abandon the uplift by April 2021, but Labour managed to block this move in the House of Commons in 2021 with the help of ministers from other parties.

Ms Jones said: "The upcoming cliff edge cuts to Universal Credit will force 9000 households including almost 6000 children in my constituency into further poverty, forcing families to make difficult financial decisions, and in the worst case scenario, decisions between putting food on the table or having a place to sleep. 

"Families with financial insecurities from coronavirus, on top of a decade of Tory austerity are pushed to breaking point. 

"Consequently, Trussell Trust statistics show that food bank usage in the UK has seen a 33 percent increase in the last year.

"No family should be forced to rely on foodbanks to survive in 2021 but that is the reality of Tory Britain today.  

"I have seen the huge impact the £20 uplift has had on local people in Newport West and I cannot understand why Tory MPs here in Wales and across Britain want to take it away from those most in need.  

"I will vote at every stage, and take every opportunity, to cancel the cut to Universal Credit and hope all political parties here in Newport West will join me in this fight.” 

READ MORE: