The Guardian view on universal credit: raising the level of benefits must be the priority | Editorial

But the welter of problems after the launch of universal credit – especially the five-week wait for initial payments and the harshness of the sanctions regime – led to persistent questions over whether it should be abolished.

Labour’s 2019 manifesto committed the party to an overhaul, with a view to making the system less punitive and more supportive, while keeping the basic architecture in place.

This week’s call by Cherie Blair for Labour to reconsider its commitment to the two-child limit should prompt serious reflection about why Sir Keir Starmer’s party is clinging to this aspect of George Osborne’s legacy.

Because of higher rents in London and the south-east, and increased support for private renters, UC will eventually lead to a £2.1bn transfer in benefit entitlement towards these areas – a shift that flies in the face of commitments to reduce regional inequality.

Like the overall benefit cap, which was premised partly on the false notion that people could opt to move to cheaper housing, with the intended effect of bringing down rents, its main result has been to push already-poor families further into poverty.

A Labour party preparing for government should commit to rework the current system to lift people out of poverty.