Two serving ministers, five former Work and Pensions Secretaries and the architect of Universal Credit are among the Tories who’ve urged Liz Truss publicly not to cut benefits.
Those suggesting she raise payments with inflation span the spectrum of the party, from right-wingers Esther McVey and Lord Frost to One Nation Tories like Damian Green.
The PM wants to break a promise made by Boris Johnson to put up benefits in line with rising prices next April - instead matching rises in average earnings.
A single unemployed adult would lose £185, a single disabled adult would lose £380 and a working couple with two children would lose £752, according to the Resolution Foundation.
Ministers yesterday Ms Truss may not make a decision until as late as the end of next month, which would put further strain on struggling families.
But with the Cabinet meeting this morning for the first time since Tory conference, sources last night suggested pressure on the PM over the issue could mean it is fast-tracked, with an announcement in the last week of this month.
Sourced told the Mirror’s Political Editor, John Stevens, that Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith is privately arguing the government must stick to its promise to increase payments in line with inflation.
Critics accused the dithering PM of leaving millions of families in a “grim limbo” as they wait to find out if she will snatch hundreds of pounds from those entitled to payments including Universal Credit.
It came as experts issued a bombshell warning that Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng would need to unleash more than £60billion of spending cuts to get Britain’s public finances back under control.
Some government departments risked having their budgets slashed by more than a quarter under scenarios spelt out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in a damning report out on Tuesday.
Here’s how a real-terms cut would affect you - and a list of the biggest Tory voices speaking out against it.
What would Liz Truss’s benefit cut mean for your Universal Credit?
Liz Truss has been considering raising benefits next April by average earnings growth, instead of by inflation.
Regular pay excluding bonuses grew by just 5.2% in the year to May-July 2022. Fresh figures were due out this morning.
By comparison, CPI inflation is currently much higher at 9.9%. Updated figures are due out next Wednesday.
First let’s look at how it affects the Universal Credit ‘standard allowance’.
A 5.2% rise would raise the standard allowance by £17.42 a month for a single adult or £27.34 for a couple, over the age of 25.
But a 9.9% rise would lift it by £33.16 a month for a single person and £52.05 for a couple.
That’s by no means all of it. People on Universal Credit get top-ups for things like housing and children.
That means the average payment across all claimants is actually £810 a month.
Raise that by 9.9% and you’d get to £890 - a rise of £80 a month. But raise it by 5.2% and you’d get to £852 - a rise of just £42 a month.
That’s a difference of £38 a month on the two plans, which will be swallowed up and overtaken by rising food prices.
And don’t forget that benefits only rose by 3.1% in April 2022, because the rise uses back-dated inflation figures which were already well out of date. That means a proper rise is long overdue.
All the Tories speaking out
Penny Mordaunt: Serving Leader of the Commons told Times Radio: “We are not about trying to help people with one hand and take it away with another… I have always supported, whether it's pensions, whether it's our welfare system, keeping pace with inflation. It makes sense to do so.”
Robert Buckland: Serving Welsh Secretary told the BBC “Every Conservative government that I've been part of has maintained the safety net, and I'm sure this one will do the same."
Sajid Javid: Former Chancellor told the BBC “I personally believe that benefits must stay in line with inflation.”
Michael Gove: Former Cabinet star told conference attendees: “People wanted a Conservative government that was dedicated to improving the lives of those that hadn’t necessarily been traditional Conservative voters, and certainly weren’t among the wealthiest in our society. We’ve got to, I think, stay true to that tradition.”
Johnny Mercer: Former minister said “a hell of a lot of people who are using benefits are actually in work. This idea you can just go to work more, it is for the birds… I won’t vote for a budget that doesn’t see an uprating of benefits… and if that means I get kicked out of the Tory party, fine.”
Esther McVey: Welfare-slashing former Work and Pensions Secretary told a Tory conference fringe: "It would be a huge mistake not to give a cost of living increase in the benefits. It cannot be that the books are balanced on the back of benefits. That is not right at all."
Damian Green: Ex-welfare chief and leader of One Nation Tories said: “If people are already struggling, to make them struggle even more does not seem a sensible thing to do… It does not make sense to give people £1,200 to help with energy bills and then say we are going to claw back hundreds of pounds."
Stephen Crabb: Another former welfare chief said “that would be the wrong choice. I’ve always been clear that we need to do a full uprating next April.”
David Gauke: Former Tory - who was welfare chief but then ran as an independent in 2019 - said at a conference fringe: “I cannot see how they refuse to increase in line with inflation, given the pledges that have been made and given the current situation of a very significant cost of living crisis."
Iain Duncan Smith: Ex-leader and welfare chief of six years told Channel 4 News “It’s already less than inflation because it’s in arrears… uprating this now was already accepted it needed to be done, otherwise it’s a massive - it’s a cut.”
Baroness Stroud: Architect of Universal Credit told the BBC “you don’t build growth on the back of the poor. At a time when you’re going for growth, you really protect the poorest in this country.”
Rob Halfon: Education Committee chairman said “we need to be a compassionate Conservative government, putting social justice at its heart.”
Mel Stride: Treasury Committee chair told the BBC “we're coming off the back actually of a kind of quite a strong real-terms squeeze on those benefits already so I think that will be a really tough call to make."
Lord Frost: Right-wing former Brexit negotiator told GB News: “The Government has made a commitment to uprate benefits. It shouldn't take on battles it can't win. People feel insecure going into the Autumn and I think it should stick to this commitment."
John Glen: Former Treasury minister told a fringe event “there are some people who are in such a vulnerable state, there isn’t a growth imperative or outcome that’s going to resolve that situation for that group of people this coming Autumn or winter.”
Roger Gale: Tory veteran said “you don’t protect the vulnerable by cutting benefits”, adding: "I would not myself be inclined to vote for a cut in benefits."
Alicia Kearns: 2019 MP told a conference fringe she supports raising in line with inflation, according to PoliticsHome.
Peter Aldous: Wrote in The House: “Anything less will be unconscionable… Time is running out to show the British people that the Conservative Party deserves to retain the honour of serving as their government.”
Robert Largan: Said “this is untenable - you cannot freeze benefits and pensions while cutting taxes for millionaires.”
