Tory councillor apologises after colleagues make 'insensitive' bet on Universal Credit cut

A Tory councillor has apologised after his colleagues held a sweepstake on when Labour would bring up the controversial Universal Credit cut in a recent meeting.

Karen Constantine, Labour councillor for Ramsgate, was speaking at Kent County Council’s Health Scrutiny and Overview Committee on 16 September when she heard “groaning, guffawing and chuckling” from her Conservative colleagues.

A recording of the meeting shows Cllr Constantine say: “I wonder what this committee’s thoughts were on the £20 cut to Universal Credit, which is going to force a lot of families into poverty.”

But she is then interrupted and adds: “I can hear my colleagues groaning, but this is about prevention being better than cure.”

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Tory councillor Paul Bartlett, who chairs the committee, then replies by saying that the Conservatives had made a bet on when Labour would bring up the benefit cut.

“The reason you heard collective groans was because some colleagues have lost the sweepstake as to when Universal Credit would be mentioned at this meeting,” he says.

Ms Constantine told Sky News she was “amazed” local Conservatives had admitted to such “dreadful behaviour”.

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“They were laughing at me basically. When I’m speaking, I expect my fellow councillors to be listening,” she said.

“I was really very, very sad that something so significant was a source of fun for Conservative members – are they that out of touch?”

The government increased Universal Credit payments by £20 a week during the coronavirus pandemic in response to the huge rise in numbers claiming.

But on 6 October, the scheme came to an end, leaving the 5.8 million who receive the benefit with less money each week.

For people under-25, the £20 cut amounts to 25% and for a couple over-25, it means a 15% drop, according to the Resolution Foundation.

Commenting on deprivation levels in Ramsgate, Ms Constantine added: “Child poverty in my area is over 30% and in some wards it’s over 50%.

“People in Thanet felt the squeeze before the rest of the country when the benefits system changed and there were glitches with Universal Credit.

“People here are getting poorer and poorer, they’re on their bones and many have nothing left.

“I was making the point that if you make people so poor they become physically and mentally unwell, it’s going to cost you more in the future.”

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The government has said it faces many “tough decisions” in the aftermath of the COVID, with a Department for Work and Pensions spokesman adding its new household support fund will “help the most vulnerable with essential costs through winter”.

Councillor Bartlett told Sky News in a statement: “I very much regret the comment that I made during the meeting and apologise that the choice of words was insensitive.

“I would like to stress that I have the utmost sympathy for anyone struggling financially and that my comment was not, in any way, made in order to offend or upset anyone.

“The comment about Universal Credit was made in response to Cllr Constantine raising the issue of health outcomes for those on lower incomes – something that the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee strives to address in everything we do.”

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