I'm a Universal Credit bandit - I'll never swap £2,700 handout for minimum wage job

A self-proclaimed Universal Credit "bandit" has sparked outrage after boasting about the £2,700 he receives from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). He stated he couldn't imagine working in an office or on a building site for minimum wage. The claimant, known as Liam, took to TikTok to flaunt his £600 monthly increase in Universal Credit in July compared to the previous month.

Using the handle @xylevel, he revealed the substantial payment he received this month, saying he "could not imagine sitting in an office or working on a building site for minimum wage". In June, Liam earned £2,100 - before taking home £2,700 the following month.

In the video, the 'UC bandit' showed off the large sum of money he was about to receive, saying: ''Guys, I'm loving this free money. And it was so f*****g hot today as well - I could not imagine sitting in an office or working on a building site for minimum wage. That is just disgusting, guys. 'Big up Universal Credit.

"His comments sparked a flurry of responses from disgruntled viewers. One said: "Just what you wanna see after working in the sun all day, cheers mate, enjoy." Another social media user quickly responded as the video went viral, writing: "That's a grand a month more than I get for working a 35-hour week for the NHS."

"Picking up extra overtime to help you, fella," another wrote in response to the video on the social media platform, Birmingham Live reports. "Absolute joke this Government," another commented. This follows the revelation that a record eight million people in Britain are now claiming Universal Credit.

This is the highest level since the benefit was introduced in 2013, as per official data released on Tuesday.

The number of claimants has surged by over a million within a year, from 6.9 million individuals in July last year.