'He’s insulting your intelligence'
The chancellor Rishi Sunak was ridiculed after claiming that he was unable to increase welfare benefits this year to protect the most vulnerable during the cost of living crisis because the government’s computer system would not let him.
Sunak faced calls from both opposition politicians as well as charities to increase benefits in line with inflation to protect the most vulnerable, with the Resolution Foundation for example warning that 1.3 million, including 500,000 children, will fall into poverty, after the chancellor’s failure to help the most vulnerable.
Benefits were raised by just 3.1% in April, well below the 7% rate of inflation which is expected to reach double digits later in the year.
Speaking to Bloomberg last week, Sunak said that the government’s antiquated IT systems had prevented him from raising welfare payments.
He said: “Technical problems sounds like an excuse, but the operation of our welfare system is actually, technically complicated and it’s not necessarily possible to do that for everybody.
“And actually many of the systems are built in a way that can only be done once a year and the decision was taken quite a while ago before we even realised.”
Bloomberg Economics’ Stephanie Flanders said: “You designed the furlough scheme for most of the UK workforce in two weeks”, to which Sunak replied: “The welfare system works in a very different way and we are constrained somewhat by the operation of the welfare system, but we are still supporting people.”
Sunak’s ‘computer says no’ response to the cost of living crisis led to him being criticised online, with Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeting that “he’s insulting your intelligence”, while another social media user added: “Ah, today it’s the COMPUTERS’ fault. At least they aren’t blaming poor people.”
Another user on twitter commented: “If, as @RishiSunak so ridiculously claims, it’s the computer systems that won’t allow benefit amount changes, how do they so easily apply overpayment and sanctions to BOTH Universal Credit AND Legacy Benefits?”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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