Campaigners are calling for Southend West’s MP to oppose the £20-a-week Universal Credit cut with one labour councillor claiming "people will die as a result" of the move.

Aston Line, Labour's Parliamentary Candidate for Southend West in 2019 and councillor for Westborough Ward, called for David Amess MP to join the campaign to extend the Universal Credit boost.

Universal Credit payments were increased in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Government now plans to remove this at the end of September.

Initially, the Government had planned to cut the extra £20 in March, but the deadline was extended by a further six months.

Cllr Line said: “Universal Credit does not work. It is not fit for purpose and it is a brutally punishing benefits system that needs to be completely scrapped and replaced.

“The people defending this system and making these decisions have not got the faintest idea what life is like without the safety blanket of financial security.

“However, whilst we are stuck with the broken Universal Credit system, the £20 uplift has been an absolute lifeline for our nation's most vulnerable.

He added: “Make no mistake, people will die as a result of the removal of this money and we must make a stand.”

His comments came at an All Rise Collective fundraiser – a Southend-based grassroots group who run the Southend Care hygiene bank which provides vulnerable residents with hygiene products, such as menstruation goods, shower gel, nappies and laundry detergent.

Lauren Mittell, founder of All Rise Collective, said: “We are appalled at the decision to remove the £20 per week Universal Credit boost - which has proven to be a lifeline for many struggling households during the last 18 months, who were already struggling with hygiene poverty and food insecurity.”

To help fund the care bank, visit: www.linktr.ee/Allrisecollective.