Laura Bambrick

Do you think that this is the way that we should design this new payment that's already committed to delivering?

The real interest will come when we get the design details, what the payment levels will be set at, the rules around it.

Because if we choose to go down this road, we are following a path that the UK and Northern Ireland have gone down with universal credit.

And because the rules and regulations around universal credit are so bad, it's no exaggeration to say it has dismantled the British welfare system and plundered millions into poverty and hardship.

So it's going to be, it's really important that opposition parties, members of the public and those that represent workers

people on welfare, but also those of us who represent people, workers, pay close attention to the design details of this new scheme.

Yeah, so universal credit is doing what potentially this credit or this work and family payment will do.

It will replace and merge legacy old payments into one.

But it was definitely around the rules.

So people might be familiar with the two child limit.

So families received a top up for the first two children.

But if they had a third and subsequent child, they don't receive extra money.

It is also paid a month in arrears.

So you had to wait five weeks for a first payment, which meant people were getting into debt.

We've seen a lot of food banks.

Now, arguably, we have late mover advantage.

We've seen how bad a job the UK made of it.

And so we can ensure that we don't make those same mistakes again.

But that's, as I said, it'll be really important for everybody to pay close attention that we don't find ourselves either going down this path now or leaving us exposed that when, you know, a different government with different ideology come into government, that it is open to manipulation and harsher rules and having those consequences that the UK is currently going through.

Well, look, it's hard to be on here this morning and saying, you know, we're opposed to simplifying the system and improving take up and removing anomalies and making work pay.