Former prime minister urges rethink on universal credit '“Â National

THE ex-Conservative prime minister Sir John Major has called for a rethink of the national universal credit roll-out, saying it will cause problems similar to the poll tax in the 1990s.

By The Newsroom

Published 11th Oct 2018, 07:36 BST

Updated 11th Oct 2018, 08:44 BST

Former prime minister Sir John Major. Picture: Scott Heppell/PA Wire

Sir John has warned thatÂ most Britons will think current plans are unfair after it was suggested families could end up hundreds of pounds worse off.

The Tory grandee said that failing to protect people who could lose out as a result of the welfare reforms would trigger '˜the sort of problems that the Conservative Party ran into with the poll tax'.

The news comesÂ after fellow former prime minister Gordon Brown warned the scheduled roll-out would lead to '˜chaos'Â akin to that seen in 1990.

Sir John told the BBC that Universal Credit was '˜impeccable'Â and '˜entirely logical'Â in theory, but called for its implementation to be reconsidered.

He said: '˜I don't oppose the principle of Universal Credit, I think there is a real danger it will be introduced too soon and in the wrong circumstances.'