Boris Johnson compares Labor ‘trolls’ to Trump supporters ‘inciting hatred’ as he accuses them of ‘intimidating and threatening’ Conservative MPs over free school meals and Universal Credit votes
- Universal Credit payments have gone up by £ 20 a week during a pandemic
- An increase is due to end in April and ministers are under pressure to expand policy
- Labor will vote on the issue as well as free school meals tomorrow
- But Boris Johnson called on the Conservatives to stop him and accused Labor of ‘playing politics’.
Boris Johnson has accused Labor ‘trolls’ of intimidating and threatening Conservative MPs over global credit crises and free school meals.
Labor is expected to cast symbolic votes on both issues in the House of Commons tomorrow but Mr Johnson has ordered his Conservative MPs to block it.
It had been said that similar votes in the past had been ‘poorly represented’ and he did not want that to happen again.
Labor will hold day-long talks against an attempt to force the government to keep a £ 20 a week increase in universal credit and to call for an extension to the free school meals program.
The votes following the debates are not binding but Mr Johnson has told Conservative MPs he is wary of what might happen if his colleagues vote against the motions.
Boris Johnson has ordered Conservative MPs to suspend when working forces vote on Universal Credit and free school meals tomorrow
According to The Sun, Mr Johnson told a Conservative MP in a WhatsApp message sent today that he knew many would be thirsty for a battle for Labor.
He continued: ‘But after the embarrassing way in which they used their army of momentum movements last time to misrepresent the outcome and lie about its meaning and truthfulness for intimidating and threatening colleagues – especially female colleagues – I have decided not to give them that. ‘
Mr Johnson accused Labor of ‘playing politics’ and ‘inciting the worst kind of hatred and bullying (of a kind sadly seen across the Atlantic)’.
It came as Dominic Raab insisted that families may have to wait until the Budget on March 3 to see if the rise in the value of Universal Credit will continue.
The Government has increased the value of payments during a coronavirus crisis, but the increase is expected to end in April.
Mr Raab said this morning that the extra money was expected as a ‘temporary measure’ and that the budget would ‘allow this to be looked at in the round’.
The Government is under increasing pressure from campaigners, workers and some MPs themselves to promise to keep the extra money in place.
Reports suggest Mr Sunak could replace the increase with a one-off payment of £ 500. The increase of £ 20 a week is worth £ 1,000 a year for families.
Shadow and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds said a one-off payment would be a ‘terrible policy’.
He told Sophy Ridge on Sky News: ‘First, if you go ahead with this cut you are reducing unemployment support, unemployment benefits to the lowest level since 1992 at a time when there is unemployment near height. .
‘The reason for one-off payments is a bad policy because although we talk about six million affected families, these families change throughout the year – some will back into work, some will come out – we have at times in the pandemic 200,000 new candidates come to the system in one month.
‘So a one-time payment, a snap view, completely fails to support these people. There is no reason why this cut should take place in April. ‘