Theresa May prompts roars of laughter after appearing to say 'yes' to Corbyn's request to halt Universal Credit
It came after the Government decided to scrap the controversial 55p-a-minute charge for the Universal Credit helpline
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May prompted roars of laughter in the Commons as she appeared - momentarily - to say “yes” to Jeremy Corbyn’s request to delay the rollout of Universal Credit.
Speaking in the Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Labour leader asked whether Ms May would now pause the welfare reforms and “fix the problems” before “pressing ahead” with the rollout later this month.
Responding, the Prime Minister said “Yes, it is absolutely right” before being interrupted by MPs jeering and laughing.
“No, listen to the sentence,”Ms May added. “I suggest to honourable members opposite that they listen to the sentence I was going to make.”
Referring to the Government’s announcement on Wednesday that it would scrap the 55p-a-minute charge for the Universal Credit helpline – a week after Mr Corbyn asked her to do so in the Commons – she added it was “absolutely right” the Department for Work and Pensions had done so.
But the Labour leader said the Prime Minister had “bowed to pressure” in the move adding the “fundamental problems” of Universal Credit still remain. “Six week wait,” he said. “Rising indebtedness, rent arrears and evictions.”
The showdown came after David Gauke, the Work and Pensions Secretary, told MPs during an evidence session on the welfare changes that his department had decided to change the phone number to a freephone number over the next month.
He added: “It has been DWP's longstanding position to operate local line charges for benefit inquiry lines, but having reviewed this matter more widely I will be extending freephone numbers to all DWP phone lines by the end of the year.”
His announcement was welcomed by Conservative MP Heidi Allen - a member of the cross-party committee and a leading critic of the 55p charge - as “really, really great news”.
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