Around two million children will be hit by a cruel government ruling rejecting a benefit deduction shake-up as energy prices rocket.
A cross-party group of MPs had called for debt repayments to be paused after experts said they were driving families to foodbanks - but this was thrown out by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on the day the Queen died.
Officials ruled the move was "not in the claimant's best interest", in spite of dire warnings from charities, which warn the effect on those affected will be devastating.
Andrew Forsey, chief executive of Feeding Britain, told The Mirror: 'At food banks, it is now a rare occasion to meet somebody on Universal Credit who does not have money being deducted each month.
"The deductions policy is acting as a recruiting sergeant for food banks.
"Among the things that would help most around the cost of living, and shorten the queues outside food banks, is to cancel or massively reduce these deductions."
Members of the Work and Pensions Committee called on the DWP to give "much needed breathing space" to those who needed it by pausing deductions - which are usually taken to recover money owed for a variety of debts and advances.
Government figures show around 45% of people claiming Universal Credit are having deductions taken out of their payments - at an average of £62 a month.
Labour's Stephen Timms, who chairs the Work and Pensions Committee, told The Mirror: "The charities are right. Ministers are not considering how the crisis is going to hit the least well off families.
"The Government needs to show an interest not only in people who are going to vote Conservative."
Sara Ogilvie, director of policy, rights and advocacy at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said: “The cost of living crisis has pushed many families to the brink as a difficult winter looms.
"With around two million children living in households affected by deductions, the Work and Pensions Select Committee is right to say that now is time to pause these repayments.
"If the government is serious about supporting vulnerable households through the punishing months ahead, it must urgently reconsider its position on deductions, remove the benefit cap, and increase benefits to a level that reflects real need. ”
Polly Jones, head of policy and research at food bank charity the Trussell Trust, said: “We know the deductions the DWP takes out of some people's benefit payments leaves many recipients without enough money to afford the essentials, including food.
"Half of the people visiting food banks are having money deducted in this way by the UK Government and it is pushing them even deeper into financial hardship.
“Last week we revealed the scale of financial hardship people on Universal Credit are experiencing as a result of the cost of living – with 38% of people said they’d gone a whole day with no food at all or just one meal, in the last month, because they couldn’t afford to buy enough food.
"We also know that 64% of people on Universal Credit have already had to spend all of their July cost of living payment on food.
“If they paused deductions, the UK Government would help ensure people can eat, stay warm and dry in the coming months. It is vital that the Government rethink this decision.”
In its ruling the DWP said: "The Department does not believe that pausing deductions by default is necessarily in the claimant’s best interest.
"The impact of any future benefit uprating would clearly be diminished if it also coincided with the re-introduction of any paused deductions.
"While claimants will have retained more of their award in the interim, they may nonetheless feel no better off as a result."
The DWP has reduced the amount that can be deducted from Universal Credit payments twice, and has doubled the time period over which it is repaid.
Last year it cut its deductions cap to 25% of the standard allowance.
