Covid job losses lead MPs to call for trials of universal basic income

Covid job losses lead MPs to call for trials of universal basic income

A cross-party group of MPs has called on the government to allow councils to run universal basic income trials in response to mass unemployment triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A letter to the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, signed by more than 500 MPs, lords and local councillors says pilot schemes are urgently needed as the pandemic unleashes widespread economic disruption and drives up redundancies at the fastest rate on record this winter. Launching a UBI would mean the state paying every adult a basic sum regardless of their income.

The letter says issues with the benefit system and the end of the furlough scheme mean Britain is ill-equipped to support people through the financial insecurity of the Covid recession.

"We must trial innovative approaches which create an income floor for everyone, allowing our families