MID-Worcestershire MP Nigel Huddleston has hit back at criticism from his election adversary amid a fraught national debate over Universal Credit.

It centres around the £20 uplift for claimants as part of the response to Covid-19 but that is due to end on March 31.

The government, which has said no decision has been made, is under pressure to extend that provision with Labour MPs instigating a non-binding motion – often used to express approval or disapproval of something which cannot otherwise be voted on – to keep it in place.

All bar six Conservative MPs – ex-Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb, Peter Aldous, Robert Halfon, Jason McCartney, Anne Marie Morris and Matthew Offord – toed the party line and abstained, a move Helen Russell, the Labour candidate up against Mr Huddleston at the last general election, described as “shameful”.

“Not only the more than 5,000 Universal Credit claimants in Evesham area, but all those concerned with fairness will find this vote shameful,” she said.

“It is unbelievable that the government is considering cutting Universal Credit in the middle of this jobs crisis. The government must do all it can to strengthen the safety net to prevent families and individuals from sliding further into hardship from which it will be extremely difficult to recover.”

In response, Mr Huddleston said: “The government is committed to supporting families during the pandemic including a £6 billion increase to welfare payments.

“A temporary and emergency uplift of £1,000 a year in Universal Credit is just one of a range of measures put in place to help those in need. We will be reviewing pandemic support measures in the run up to the budget on March 3.

“I regret Labour’s calls to scrap Universal Credit, a system which has delivered for nearly six million low-income people and families through this emergency.

“By long standing convention, governments oppose or abstain on opposition day debates. They are often worded in a way to make it impossible for the government to support but no Conservative MP opposed the motion.

“Instead, and bizarrely, the only opposition came from Labour MPs themselves who fabricated dissent!

“Neither I nor most of my constituents will be impressed by these disingenuous tactics.

"While the Labour party play games in parliament and on social media, the Conservatives will continue to focus on supporting those in need.”