Draft your personalised email to your MP including these key points:
Dear 'MP name',
I am writing as someone who is on Universal Credit/Working Tax Credit OR ESA/JSA/Income Support to urge you to ask Rishi Sunak & Thérèse Coffey, to do the right thing by making the recent £20 uplift to Universal Credit & Working Tax Credit permanent and extend it to families on legacy benefits too.
[If you have had the uplift - insert what impact the £20 has had and what impact taking it away will have on your livelihood]
[If you haven’t had the uplift – add what life is like on social security, what impact the pandemic has had on you and what difference receiving the £20 would make for you]
Please urgently write or speak to Ministers and ask them to keep the lifeline and ensure those on legacy benefits are not left behind. I would appreciate a response and thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
Go to this website and enter your postcode. Scroll down to find ‘Your MP’, click on their name.
Copy and paste the letter you’ve drafted, follow the instructions on the website to send your letter.
Please let us know if you get a response from your MP. You can share any responses with us at keepthelifeline@jrf.org.uk. It may take a few weeks for them to get back to you.
Tips for sharing your experience
Consider the following questions when drafting your message:
- What does your household look like? Do you have children?
- How long have you been on this benefit? Are you working or unemployed? How has the pandemic impacted you?
- Are you managing to afford the rent, other bills and essentials?
- What are your concerns about the future? What will happen if you do not have this £20 from April?
Include how benefits support you in normal times, not just during challenges of the pandemic. We want to show MPs that social security/welfare is a vital public service that needs to meet people’s needs always, not just in a pandemic.
Your MP will want to hear how their decisions are impacting people's level of debt or affecting your ability to pay rent or bills. They will want to know if their choices have affected your children's or your family's health. Include your experience of these things if you feel comfortable.
Be polite – even if it is tempting not to be! We want them to support the cause.