text: Dacca Survey School was established in 1876 at Nalgola, west of the current Sir Salimullah Medical College campus, in Old Dhaka by the Government of Bengal under British Raj. It offered two-year engineering and survey courses toward the Sub-Overseer's examination, which certified land surveyors.


title: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

text: According to a report on public instruction in Bengal, on 31 March 1903, Dhaka Survey School had 117 students of which 103 were Hindus and 14 were Muslims. In 1908, the school started to offer diploma degrees. Nawab Sir Khwaja Ahsanullah Bahadur, a philanthropist and Nawab of Dhaka, endowed donations for developing the survey school. After his death in 1901, his son, the then Nawab of Dhaka, Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur released the grant in 1902 in accordance with his late fathers wish. As an acknowledgement of this contribution, the school was renamed to Ahsanullah School of Engineering in 1908.


text: The school offered three-year diploma courses in civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering in 1908. In 1912, the university was moved to its present premises. In 1938, A. K. Fazlul Huq, the then Prime Minister of Bengal, appointed Hakim Ali as the principal of the school.


text: After the partition of India in 1947, Chief Minister of East Bengal Sir Khwaja Nazimuddin approved the school to be upgraded to Ahsanullah Engineering College, as a Faculty of Engineering under the University of Dhaka, offering four-year bachelor's course in civil, electrical, mechanical, chemical and metallurgical engineering.


text: In 1948, the Government of East Bengal granted recognition to the engineering college. Ali became the first principal of the college. In 1951, TH Mathewman was appointed the next principal. M. A. Rashid succeeded him in 1954 as the first Bengali principal of the college and held the post until 1960. In 1956, a new course curriculum and the semester system were introduced at the college.


text: On 1 June 1962, in order to create facilities for postgraduate studies and research, the college was upgraded to East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology (EPUET), becoming the fourth university of the then East Pakistan. Rashid was appointed the first vice-chancellor of the university.


text: A partnership with the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (renamed Texas A&M University) was forged, and professors from A&M came to teach and formulate the curriculum. During this period, EPUET offered courses in mechanical, electrical, civil, metallurgical, and chemical engineering, and architecture.


text: After the liberation war of 1971, and Bangladesh's independence, EPUET was renamed to Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).


text: In 2002, a first year student in the chemical engineering department, Sony, was killed during a factional clash between two feuding groups of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) at BUET. The two factions exchanged gunfire and she was caught in the line of fire.


text: In 2007, BUET celebrated 60 years (1947–2007) of engineering education in Bangladesh by arranging a 6-month-long series of programs and events.


text: In October 2019, sophomore Abrar Fahad was tortured and beaten to death in Sher-e-Bangla Hall, allegedly by members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling Awami League party. "The Independent" reported that beatings and torture by the BCL were common in the dormitories. Fahad's murder sparked nearly two months of student protests against violent ragging and bullying at the residence halls. The protests ended after university authorities met student demands. They expelled for life 25 students allegedly involved in the killing, expelled a further 15 from their places in Ahsan Ullah Hall, Suhrawardy Hall, and Titumir Hall, handed down various suspensions and warnings, and adopted new penalties for ragging and political activities.


text: In February 2021, BUET and Chinese multinational technology company Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the first ICT Academy in Bangladesh on BUET campus.


text: On 21 June 2021, BUET and Saitama University, Japan signed second renewal of the agreement on academic exchange and the memorandum on student exchange between the two institutions. Saitama University (SU) and BUET have had a long-standing relationship for the past 20 years.


text: In January 2022, BUET was ranked 1st among Bangladeshi and 1589th among global educational institutions in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.


text: BUET has an urban campus located in the Palashi area of Dhaka. The campus houses academic and administrative buildings, residential halls for students and other amenities.


text: Academic activities are undertaken by 18 departments under five faculties. Twelve departments offer undergraduate courses, all of which, except the Department of Humanities, offer postgraduate courses as well.


text: At present, there are six institutes in BUET. These institutes offer postgraduate diplomas, master's and doctoral degrees.


text: BUET has been ranked 202nd among the Asian universities in the 2022 edition of QS World University Rankings. BUET has been ranked No. 801-1000 among all universities on QS World University Rankings 2023. Only three Bangladeshi universities have been ranked in the 2022 edition of Times Higher Education World University Rankings, BUET is one of them.


text: BUET central library has a collection of 142,913 items of information materials. Among the materials, 125,066 and 17,847 are books and bound periodicals respectively. Besides, 152 titles are in the current subscription list of journals. Every year, 1500 volumes are added to this library. The main reading room of the central library can accommodate 200 students at a time to provide reading facilities of rare and out-of-print books, and also ready reference and prescribed textbooks. There are also departmental libraries in each of the departments and institutes and hall libraries in each of the residence halls.


text: After the independence of Bangladesh and the subsequent name change, the first convocation of the university was held in 1973. Since then, convocations have been held in 1976, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2019.


text: The Chancellor is the ceremonial head of the university who appoints the Vice-chancellor. The position is held by the incumbent President of Bangladesh. The Vice-chancellor is the executive head of the university. The position is always held by a senior Professor of the university. The university is administered by the University Syndicate which is chaired by the Vice-chancellor.


text: Members of the Syndicate include Deans of several faculties, Director General of Secondary and Higher Education in Bangladesh, Director General of Technical Education in Bangladesh, eminent academics from this university as well as from other famous public universities. Each of the faculties is headed by a Dean and each of the departments is chaired by a Head of the department.


text: They are generally full professors from their respective faculties and departments. Institutes, Research Centers and Directorates are headed by the Directors who are full professors from relevant fields of research. Other major administrative posts include the Registrar, the Comptroller and the Controller of Exams.


text: The University Syndicate is the supreme authority in major policy-making matters and in approving recommendations. The Finance Committee, the Planning and Development Committee and other committees assist the Syndicate in matters important for the proper functioning of the university. The Academic Council is the supreme body for formulating academic rules and regulations to which the CASR, Boards of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies and the Faculties recommend.


text: The Undergraduate admission test is one of the most intensive written examinations in Bangladesh. After completion of higher secondary level (HSC) education, a student can submit her or his application for undergraduate admission if he/she fulfills the minimum requirements.


text: The students with the best grades in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, English & Bengali on their Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) examination are allowed to take the admission test. The screening process allows 20,000 students to sit for the admission test based on the cumulative sum of their GPA in those five subjects.


text: After the competitive admission test, only about 1,275 students get selected on the basis of merit and are offered admission. The admission test is of 600 marks, with 60 questions carrying 10 marks each. 20 questions are from physics, 20 from chemistry and 20 from mathematics.


text: There are 26 seats for foreign students at the undergraduate level. The pre-requisite qualification for admission is HSC or GCE A-level or its equivalent with high grades in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. The admission fee is $200; the course registration fee is US$50 per credit hour and the approximate cost of food, lodging etc. is US$100 per month. A maximum of 10 students from a single country are allowed for admission.


text: In Masters and PhD programs, around 1,000 graduate students are accepted on an annual basis. For admission to these programs, candidates are required to appear in interviews and/or written tests.


text: Postgraduate degrees offered by departments and institutes are MSc (Master of Science), MSc Engg. (Master of Science in Engineering), M. Engg (Master of Engineering), MURP (Master of Urban and Regional Planning), MArch (Master of Architecture), M.Phil. (Master of Philosophy) and PhD (Doctor of Philosophy). Postgraduate diplomas (PG. Dip.) are also offered in IT and Water resources development.


text: For consultation and research the expertise at the university, its teachers and the laboratory facilities are available to other organizations of the country. A separate institution – Bureau of Research, Testing and Consultation (BRTC) has been formed to oversee these activities.


text: The university undertakes research programs sponsored by outside organizations like United Nations Organizations, Commonwealth Foundation, European Union, University Grants Commission (Bangladesh), World Bank, Asian Development Bank, DfID, JICA etc.


text: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, BUET developed OxyJet, a cost-effective CPAP ventilator, which was approved by the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) in July 2021.


text: BUET regularly organizes national and international conferences and workshops in its campus to enhance the research capabilities of its students and faculties. Among the conferences organized by BUET, following are notable:


text: There are nine residence halls for BUET students. Most are named after eminent figures in the history of Bangladesh:


text: The administrative head of a residence hall is its provost, usually chosen from the senior teachers of different faculties. Three Assistant Provosts are also appointed in the hall administration.


text: Students who do not stay at halls of residence are facilitated by the university's own commuter buses which cover major routes of Dhaka city.


text: BUET has a large playground at the eastern periphery of main academic campus. It is used as venue of annual athletics competition of the university as well as cricket, football, and hockey competitions. Students can access the facility all year round. Besides, visiting foreign national football teams as well as few top football clubs of Bangladesh sometimes use this ground for practice sessions. The playground is also used as venue of alumni reunions. BUET has tennis court in the main academic area. It also has a gymnasium near halls of residence where students can do gymnastics and play basketball during leisure.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit is a United Kingdom social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, and Income Support; Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit; and Housing Benefit. An award of UC is made up of different elements, which become payable to the claimant if relevant criteria apply: a standard allowance for singles or couples, child elements and disabled child elements for children in the household, housing cost element, childcare costs element, as well as elements for being a carer or having an illness or disability and therefore having limited capability to work.


title: Universal Credit

text: The new policy was announced in 2010 at the Conservative Party annual conference by the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, who said it would make the social security system fairer to claimants and taxpayers. At the same venue the Welfare Reform Minister, Lord Freud, emphasised the scale of their plan, saying it was a "once in many generations" reform. A government white paper was published in November 2010. A key feature of the proposed new benefit was that unemployment payments would taper off as the recipient moved into work, not suddenly stop, thus avoiding a 'cliff edge' that was said to 'trap' people in unemployment.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit was legislated for in the Welfare Reform Act 2012. In 2013, the new benefit began to be rolled out gradually to Jobcentres, initially focusing on new claimants with the least complex circumstances: single people who were not claiming for the cost of their accommodation.


title: Universal Credit

text: There were problems with the early strategic leadership of the project and with the IT system on which Universal Credit relies. Implementation costs, initially forecast to be around £2 billion, later grew to over £12 billion. More than three million recipients of the six older "legacy" benefits were expected to have transferred to the new system by 2017, but under current plans the full move will not be completed before 2024.


title: Universal Credit

text: One specific concern is that payments are made monthly, with a waiting period of at least five weeks (originally six) before the first payment, which can particularly affect claimants of Housing Benefit and lead to rent arrears (although claimants can apply for emergency loans paid more promptly). In May 2019, one million people were receiving less than their entitlement, often due to the repayment of loans given during the initial five-week wait period.<ref name="Observer24/11/2019"></ref>


title: Universal Credit

text: In September 2019, a total of 2.5 million people were receiving the benefit; 65% of those recipients were out of work.


title: Universal Credit

text: The Universal Credit mechanism was itself first outlined as a concept in a 2009 report, "Dynamic Benefits", by Iain Duncan Smith's thinktank the Centre for Social Justice. It would go on to be described by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith at the Conservative Party annual conference in 2010. The initial aim was for it to be implemented fully over four years and two parliaments, and to merge the six main existing benefits (income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit) into a single monthly payment, as well as cut the considerable cost of administering six independent benefits, with their associated computer systems.


title: Universal Credit

text: Unlike existing benefits like Income Support, which had a 100% withdrawal rate, Universal Credit was designed to gradually taper away – like tax credits and Housing Benefit – allowing claimants to take part-time work without losing their entitlement altogether. In theory, it makes claimants better off taking on work, as they keep at least a proportion of the money they earn. But reductions in funding and changes to withdrawal rates left commentators on either side of the debate to question whether it would actually make work pay. The "Daily Telegraph" claimed "part-time work may no longer pay", and "some people would be better off refusing" part-time work and in the "Guardian" Polly Toynbee wrote "Universal credit is simple: work more and get paid less". Finally, the "Minimum Income Floor" used when calculating Universal Credit for self-employed claimants may make it much less worthwhile for large parts of the population to work for themselves.


title: Universal Credit

text: The objectives of the policy included creating a more responsive system that would simplify and incentivise a return to work, pay benefits in a monthly cycle more akin to salaries, reduce the high marginal deduction rate that accumulates from the withdrawal of more than one means-tested benefit simultaneously to a single deduction rate improving incentives, ensure that taking on even a small or varying amount of work would be financially rewarding, and reduce the proportion of children growing up in homes where no one works. Universal Credit would merge out-of-work benefits and in-work support to improve return to work incentives.


title: Universal Credit

text: The clearer financial incentives through Universal Credit would be strengthened by four types of conditionality for claimants depending on their circumstances, ranging from being required to look for full-time work to not being required to find work at all (people in the unconditional group include the severely disabled and carers).


title: Universal Credit

text: Payments are made once a month directly into a bank or building society account, except in Scotland where claimants are given the option to have it paid fortnightly. Any help with rent granted as part of the overall benefit calculation is included in the monthly payment and claimants normally then pay landlords themselves. It is possible in some circumstances to get an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA), which allows payment of housing benefit direct to the landlord.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit claimants are also entitled to Personal Budgeting Support (PBS), which is aimed to help them adapt to some of the changes it brings, such as monthly payment.


title: Universal Credit

text: In 2015 the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced a future £3.2 billion a year cut to the overall Universal Credit budget after an attempt to cut Tax Credits that year was thwarted by parliament. The Resolution Foundation has argued that this cut, which will be felt more keenly as millions more people transfer to Universal Credit, risks the new system failing to achieve its original purpose of incentivising work in low-income households. The amendments were:


title: Universal Credit

text: In November 2016, in response to criticism that the previous changes had reduced incentives to work, the government announced a reduction in the Universal Credit post-tax taper rate, which controls the reduction of Universal Credit as employment income grows, from 65% to 63% of post-tax income, which will ultimately cost £600 million per year.


title: Universal Credit

text: In the 2018 budget the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced an increase in the "work allowances" for households with children, and people with disabilities, with effect from April 2019, partially reversing the reductions announced in 2015. The post-tax work allowances will increase by £1,000 per year, representing an extra £630 of income for about 2.4 million households in employment, ultimately at a cost of about £1.7 billion per year. Extra transitional support for claimants being moved to Universal Credit was also announced.


title: Universal Credit

text: In April 2020 as a one-year temporary response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Universal Credit standard allowance was temporarily increased by £20 per week and housing benefit rent limits relaxed. The uplift was extended until 30 September 2021. Later analysis showed this lifted 400,000 children out of the government's relative poverty measure, reversing the previous years increasing trend.


title: Universal Credit

text: The October 2021 budget increased in-work support by increasing the work allowances by £500 a year, and reducing the post-tax deduction taper rate from 63% to 55%. Iain Duncan Smith wrote that he was delighted that the taper rate would now be 55%, the level he wanted over a decade ago when he devised the scheme, but which had not been allowed by the Treasury. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation showed that three-quarters of families on UC would be worse off compared to the previous temporary £20 per week uplift during the Covid crisis.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit has some similarities to Lady Williams' idea of a negative income tax, but it should not be confused with the universal basic income policy idea. There is some debate as to whether Universal Credit should be described as "universal", given it is both subject to income cut-offs and requires some claimants to be available for work.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit is part of a package of measures in the Welfare Reform Act 2012, which received Royal Assent on 9 March 2012. The Act delegates its detailed workings to regulations, most of which were published as the Universal Credit Regulations 2013. Related regulations appeared in a range of other statutory instruments also.


title: Universal Credit

text: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced in February 2012 that Universal Credit would be delivered by selected best-performing DWP and Tax Credit processing centres. Initially, the announcement made clear that local authorities (responsible for administering payment of Housing Benefit, a legacy benefit to be incorporated into the scheme) would not have a significant part in delivering Universal Credit. However, the Government subsequently recognised there may be a useful role for local authorities to play when helping people access services within Universal Credit.


title: Universal Credit

text: Philip Langsdale, chief information officer at DWP, who had been leading the programme, died in December 2012, and in previous months there had also been significant personnel changes. Project Director Hillary Reynolds resigned in March 2013 after just four months, leaving the new Chief Executive of Universal Credit to take on her role. Writing in 2013, Emma Norris of the Institute for Government argued the original timetable for implementation of Universal Credit was "hugely overambitious", with delays due to IT problems and senior civil servants responsible for the policy changing six times.


title: Universal Credit

text: A staff survey, reported in "The Guardian" on 2 August 2013, quoted highly critical comments from Universal Credit implementation staff. On 31 October 2013, in another article said to be based on leaked documents, the paper reported that only 25,000 people – about 0.2% of all benefit recipients – were projected to transfer to the new programme by the time of the next general election in May 2015. In the event, over 100,000 people had made a claim for Universal Credit by May 2015.


title: Universal Credit

text: A pilot in four local authority areas was due to precede national launch of the scheme for new claimants (excluding more complex cases such as families with children), in October 2013, with full implementation to be completed by 2017. Due to persistent computer system failures and delays in implementation, only one pilot, in Ashton-under-Lyne, went ahead by the expected date. The other three pilots went ahead later in the summer, and were met by staff protests.


title: Universal Credit

text: The roll-out of Universal Credit in the Northwest of England was limited to new, single, healthy claimants, later extended to couples, then families, in the same area, reflecting the gradual maturing of different aspects of the computer system. Once the Northwest roll-out was largely complete, the government gradually extended Universal Credit to new single healthy claimants in the rest of the British mainland, nearly completing this roll-out . It was expected that this would gradually be extended to couples and families outside the Northwest once the roll-out to UK mainland single claimants was completed. In Northern Ireland, implementation was held up by disputes over policy and funding between feuding parties in the Northern Ireland assembly; the roll-out of Universal Credit in Northern Ireland began in September 2017.


title: Universal Credit

text: As of 2018 one third of claimants have their benefit reduced to pay rent, council tax and utility bill arrears. This pushed people who already have little further into poverty. Abby Jitendra of the Trussell Trust said this can lead to "the tipping point into crisis. (...) Repaying an advance payment, for example, can be an unaffordable expense when taken from a payment that wasn't enough to start with, pushing people further into debt at the time when support is most needed." Gillian Guy of Citizens Advice said, "Deductions from universal credit can make it harder for people to get by. People receiving universal credit are unlikely to have much slack in their budgets, so even small amounts can put a huge strain on their finances. Building on last year's improvements to universal credit, the government now needs to ensure deductions are made at a manageable rate and take a person's ability to cover their expenses into account." Charlotte Hughes who advises benefit recipients, said deductions were impossible to predict and often done with no warning. "The first time somebody knows that money's been taken out of their account is when they go to the bank. It's just a minefield. Living with that stress that you don't know what money you're going to get from week to week, from month to month, that makes you ill – and that's before you can't eat, and before you can't look after your kids properly. It's rampant."


title: Universal Credit

text: The scheme was originally planned to begin in April 2013, in four local authorities – Tameside (containing Ashton-under-Lyne), Oldham, Wigan and Warrington, with payments being handled by the DWP Bolton Benefit Centre – but was later reduced to a single area (Ashton) with the others due to join in July. In Wales, it is known the UC pilot covered new claimants in Brecon in early 2013. The pilot would initially cover only about 300 claims per month for the simplest cases of single people with no dependent children, and was to extend nationally for new claimants with the same circumstances by October, with a gradual transition to be complete by 2017. (One tester of the new system in April noted that the online forms took around 45 minutes to complete, and there was no save function.)


title: Universal Credit

text: In March 2013 it was reported that final Universal Credit calculations would be made manually on spreadsheets during the pilot, with the IT system being limited to booking appointments and storing personal details. It was separately reported that no claimants turned up in person at the town hall on the first day of the scheme.


title: Universal Credit

text: The "Financial Times" reported that the October national roll-out of Universal Credit would now begin in a single Jobcentre (or possibly a "cluster" of them) in each region and that in December 2012 Hilary Reynolds, who had recently been appointed programme director but had moved shortly thereafter, stated in a letter to local authorities: "For the majority of local authorities the impact of [Universal Credit] during the year 2013–14 will be limited."


title: Universal Credit

text: On 3 December 2013, the DWP issued a report containing statistics which showed that, between April and 30 September, only 2,150 people had been signed up to Universal Credit in the four pilot areas. This report confirmed that Universal Credit had been rolled out to Hammersmith on 28 October, followed by Rugby and Inverness on 25 November, and was to expand to Harrogate, Bath, and Shotton by spring 2014.


title: Universal Credit

text: While the DWP had estimated administration costs for the roll-out of Universal Credit to be £2.2 billion, by August 2014 this estimate had risen to £12.8 billion over its "lifetime" and was later increased again to £15.8 billion. Much of the increased cost was linked with software problems and duplication of systems needed to pay out new and legacy benefits. The initial roll-out proceeded much more slowly than had been originally planned, and led to the early departure of several senior leadership figures. In 2018 the National Audit Office maintained Universal Credit could incur higher administrative costs than the systems it replaces.<ref name="bbc15/6/2018">Universal Credit 'could cost more than current benefits system' "BBC"</ref> A study by the Resolution Foundation published in November 2018 also predicted that Universal Credit will cost more than the older system of benefits it is replacing.


title: Universal Credit

text: In 2020 a National Audit Office report identified £1.4 billion of extra costs up to March 2020 because of the recent two-year delay, which included the costs of continuing to run the legacy systems for longer. Per claim administration costs for 2019/2020 were about 10% higher than forecast, though the DWP continued to forecast that eventually administration costs would be 9% lower than the benefits it replaced, however the NAO assessed this was "still not certain". Fraud and error was estimated at 9.4% (£1.7 billion) of payments, higher than the 6.4% forecast.


title: Universal Credit

text: In July 2018 the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Damian Green, announced a further 12-month delay to the planned implementation completion date to allow additional contingency time, taking that to 2022. This was the seventh rescheduling since 2013, pushing the implementation completion date to five years later than originally planned. In October 2018, the full rollout of Universal Credit will be delayed again to December 2023.


title: Universal Credit

text: As of February 2016, 364,000 people had made claims for Universal Credit. Government research stated "Universal Credit claimants find work quicker, stay in work longer and earn more than the Jobseekers' Allowance claimants." Delays in payments were getting claimants into rent arrears and other debts, however. Claimants may wait up to thirteen weeks for their first payment. Tenants can get into rent arrears more frequently on Universal Credit rather than Housing Benefit and many risk eviction and homelessness as a result. Landlords may refuse potential tenants on the benefit and marriages have broken up under the strain of coping with these delays and managing on Universal Credit.


title: Universal Credit

text: Frank Field, MP and charities state women have been forced into prostitution because they could not manage during times when Universal Credit payments were delayed. Field stated, "If I told people a few years ago that this was happening they would have thought I was off my rocker. I'm still struggling to comprehend it. Women often come to us in tears, they say the benefits system has got worse and they have very little choice." Fields also said, "I wrote to the secretary of state about how the rollout of universal credit in Birkenhead is not going as well as we’re told in the House of Commons, with some women taking to the red light district for the first time. Might she [Esther McVey] come to Birkenhead and meet those women's organisations and the police who are worried about women's security being pushed into this position?" In 2019 the Work and Pensions Committee of the House of Commons heard evidence from women claiming they had been forced into prostitution through delays in paying Universal Credit or because Universal Credit payments were insufficient to meet their basic needs. The committee recommended ending the five-week wait for a first payment and, giving vulnerable claimants advances that did not need to be repaid if they would otherwise experience hardship.


title: Universal Credit

text: In April 2018 The Trussell Trust reported that their food banks in areas where universal credit had been rolled out had seen an average 52% rise in demand compared to the previous year. The Trussell Trust fears a big increase in food bank use when Universal Credit is rolled out in April 2019. Emma Revie of Trussell said, "We’re really worried that our network of food banks could see a big increase in people needing help. Leaving 3 million people to wait at least five weeks for a first payment – especially when we have already decided they need support through our old benefits or tax credits system – is just not good enough. Now is the time for our government to take responsibility for moving people currently on the old system over, and to ensure no one faces a gap in payments when that move happens. Universal credit needs to be ready for anyone who might need its help, and it needs to be ready before the next stage begins."


title: Universal Credit

text: Despite May's promise to support those "just about managing", working homeowners who currently get tax credits lose badly with universal credit. A million homeowners now getting tax credits will have less with the new system and lose on average £43 a week. 600,000 working single parents will lose on average £16 per week and roughly 750,000 households on disability benefits will lose on average £75 per week. Nearly 2 in 5 households receiving benefits will be on average worse off by £52 per week. Up to thirty Conservative MP's are threatening to vote against the government over Universal Credit. Heidi Allen said, "Significant numbers of colleagues on my side of the House are saying this isn't right and are coming together to say the chancellor needs to look at this again." The Resolution Foundation predicts that 400,000 single parents will be better off under universal credit but 600,000 will do worse. The foundation fears lone parents could be trapped in low-paid work with short hours.


title: Universal Credit

text: In January 2019, Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, suspended a planned vote on moving the three million established recipients of older benefits onto Universal Credit. Rudd said that the government would seek approval for the previously announced pilot study of 10,000 such people, who will not see their benefits stopped in the summer of 2019 but have the opportunity to apply for Universal Credit. Rudd also announced that plans to retrospectively extend a benefit cap to families of more than two children born before 2017 would no longer take place. On the same day, the High Court ruled that her department had "wrongly interpreted" regulations covering the calculation of Universal Credit payments in cases where working claimants' paydays fluctuated.


title: Universal Credit

text: In February 2020, the government announced that the rollout of Universal Credit would be delayed again until September 2024 – nine months later than previously estimated. The Department for Work and Pensions explained that the delay was due to 900,000 more claimants than expected remaining on the legacy welfare schemes that Universal Credit is replacing. The delay is estimated to add more than £500 million to its overall cost.


title: Universal Credit

text: Support for claimants was initially delivered by local authorities. In October 2018, the Department for Work and Pensions announced that from April 2019, Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland would be provided with £39 million of funding and £12 million in set up costs to deliver Universal Support. In April 2019, this was rebranded as the "Help to Claim" service and helpline, delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland.


title: Universal Credit

text: Before 2013, the unemployment claimant count was simply the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. However, Universal Credit implementation has gradually broadened the groups of people who are required to look for work. For example, those that had previously claimed Child Tax Credit or Housing Benefit but not Jobseeker's Allowance, such as a person looking after children full time at home with a working partner, were not required to seek work. Under Universal Credit, the partners of claimants are now generally required to seek work. Another example is Universal Credit claimants who would previously have received Employment and Support Allowance, or were awaiting a Work Capability Assessment, are now generally required to look for work.


title: Universal Credit

text: Between November 2015 and November 2019, the number of claimants increased by over 70% (420,000), largely due to such causes. In many areas the claimant count had more than doubled, and in some more than quadrupled. Consequently, in 2018 the UK Statistics Authority removed its quality mark from claimant count statistics as it no longer provided a reliable comparator against previous labour market statistics.


title: Universal Credit

text: In 2019 the DWP published an alternative claimant count series, which used modelling to estimate the number of claimants had Universal Credit been fully implemented in 2013, for use in statistical labour market comparison.


title: Universal Credit

text: When claimants are paid salary a few days early by employers, for example because of weekends or bank holidays, this can result in two monthly payments in one assessment period and zero in the next. This results in both very uneven Universal Credit payments and lower payments over the complete year because of the cancellation of work allowance for entire months, causing hardship and stress for claimants and additional costs for food banks and other support organisations. Four single mothers, with assistance from the Child Poverty Action Group, took this issue for judicial review at the High Court, which in 2019 ruled the DWP had made a "perverse" and incorrect interpretation of the 2013 universal credit regulations. The DWP had argued it would be expensive to change their computer system to fix this problem.


title: Universal Credit

text: In June 2020 the DWP lost an appeal, where it was ruled that this was "one of the rare instances where the secretary of state for work and pensions’ refusal to put in place a solution to this very specific problem is so irrational that I have concluded that the threshold is met because no reasonable [minister] would have struck the balance in that way". The DWP decided not to appeal further and to modify their systems to comply with the ruling.


title: Universal Credit

text: In July 2020 the DWP lost a further case where the claimant was being paid on a 4-week cycle which interacted badly with the monthly cycle Universal Credit was designed for, causing her to lose up to £463 some months through the incorrect application of the benefit cap.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit has been and is subject to many criticisms. Louise Casey fears recipients could become homeless and destitute. According to official figures 24% of new claimants wait over 6 weeks for full payment and many get behind with their rent. Research by Southwark Council suggests that rent arrears continue when tenants have been on Universal Credit a long time.


title: Universal Credit

text: A DWP report, released in February 2022, (after months of delays and Conservative government attempts to dilute findings) admitted 'major unmet needs' amongst disabled claimants. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/secret-disability-benefits-report-finally-published, <nowiki>https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2021/december/dwp-refuses-publish-report-found-disabled-claimants-had-%E2%80%9Cunmet-needs%E2%80%9D</nowiki>


title: Universal Credit

text: Disabled claimants are often forced to use Personal Independence Payment (theoretically for mitigating costs of disability and available to both in and out of work disabled people) to cover cost of daily life as Income Replacement benefits are generally inadequate.


title: Universal Credit

text: Whilst carers (those providing 35hrs a week) can claim Carers Allowance (April 2022 rate £69.70) this is then deducted from UC award, despite mps acknowledging carer's face londer period on benefits and therefore higher basic costs. Claiming carers allowance can also reduce the benefit amount of the person they're caring for. Without the poorly financed/ unpaid labour of the carers many disabled people would not manage and the social services would not be able to provide alternative support. In 2020 it was reported 26% of adult population were providing care to individuals.


title: Universal Credit

text: Twelve Tory MPs including Heidi Allen wished the rollout delayed. Local Authorities and recipients of Universal Credit feared claimants will become homeless in large numbers. Gordon Brown maintains, "Surely the greatest burning injustice of all is children having to go to school ill-clad and hungry. It is the poverty of the innocent – of children too young to know they are not to blame. But the Conservative government lit the torch of this burning injustice and they continue to fan the flames with their £3bn of cuts. A return to poll tax-style chaos in a summer of discontent lies ahead."<ref name="guardian10/10/2018">Halt universal credit or face summer of discontent, Gordon Brown tells PM "The Guardian"</ref>


title: Universal Credit

text: Stephen Bush in "The New Statesman" maintained that the group currently (October 2017) in receipt of Universal Credit was unrepresentative, consisting mainly of men under 30 who were more likely to find work as they did not have to juggle work obligations with dependent needs. He also argued that men under 30 were also more likely to be living with parents so delays in payments affected them less. Bush believed that when Universal Credit is extended to older claimants and women with dependents, fewer would get back to work easily and there would be more hardship.


title: Universal Credit

text: Johnny Mercer said, "Universal credit has the potential to help people out of poverty by removing the disincentives to move into work in the previous system and allowing them to reach their full potential. A modern compassionate Conservative government simply must get it right though. This government can make the system better by smoothing the path from welfare into work with a fresh investment in universal credit in this budget." Mercer backed calls to increase funding for Universal Credit by stopping a plan to cut income tax. Some claimants on Universal Credit feel they cannot get enough to live without resorting to crime. One in five claims for Universal Credit fails because the claimant does not follow the procedure correctly and there are fears this is because the procedure is hard to understand.


title: Universal Credit

text: Food bank use has increased since Universal Credit started. Delays in providing money force claimants to use food banks, also Universal Credit does not provide enough to cover basic living expenses. Claiming Universal Credit is complex and the system is hard to navigate, many claimants cannot afford internet access and cannot access online help with claiming. A report by the Trussell Trust says, "Rather than acting as a service to ensure people do not face destitution, the evidence suggests that for people on the very lowest incomes ... the poor functioning of universal credit can actually push people into a tide of bills, debts and, ultimately, lead them to a food bank. People are falling through the cracks in a system not made to hold them. What little support available is primarily offered by the third sector, whose work is laudable, but cannot be a substitute for a real, nationwide safety net."


title: Universal Credit

text: The National Audit Office maintains there is no evidence Universal Credit helps people into work and it is unlikely to provide value for money, the system is in many ways unwieldy and inefficient. There are calls for delays and for the system to be fixed before it is rolled out to millions of further claimants. Margaret Greenwood said, "The government is accelerating the rollout in the face of all of the evidence, using human beings as guinea pigs. It must fix the fundamental flaws in universal credit and make sure that vulnerable people are not pushed into poverty because of its policies."


title: Universal Credit

text: Whistleblowers maintain the system is badly designed, broken and glitches regularly lead to hardship for claimants. Hardship can involve delays in benefit payment lasting weeks or reduction in payment by hundreds of pounds below what a claimant is entitled to. A whistleblower said, "The IT system on which universal credit is built is so fundamentally broken and poorly designed that it guarantees severe problems with claims." He maintained the system is too complex and error prone, affecting payments, and correction was frequently slow. "In practical terms, it is not working the way it was intended and it is having an actively harmful effect on a huge number of claimants." Errors and delays add an average of three weeks to the official 35 day wait for a first payment forcing claimants into debt, rent arrears and to food banks. Campaigners fear the situation could worsen in 2019 when 3 million claimants are moved to the new system. The Department of Work and Pensions is accused of being defensive and insular. One whistleblower said design problems existed due to failure to understand what claimants need, particularly when they do not have digital skills or internet access. He said, "We are punishing claimants for not understanding a system that is not built with them in mind."


title: Universal Credit

text: In October 2018, former Prime Minister Sir John Major warned against Universal Credit being introduced "too soon and in the wrong circumstances". Major argued that people who faced losing out in the short term had to be protected, "or you run into the sort of problems the Conservative Party ran into with the poll tax in the late 1980s".


title: Universal Credit

text: A report by Bright Blue, funded by Trust for London, recommended that several changes be made to the Universal Credit system. These changes included introducing a Universal Credit app, offering all new Universal Claimants a one off "helping hand" payment to avoid the five week waiting period and entering claimants who consistently meet conditions around job seeking into a monthly lottery.


title: Universal Credit

text: Multiple organisations have predicted that Universal Credits will cause families with children to be financially worse off. When fully operational, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that 2.1 million families will lose while 1.8 million will gain. Single parents and families with three children will lose an average £200 a month according to the Child Poverty Action Group and the Institute for Public Policy Research. Alison Garnham of the CPAG urged ministers to reverse cuts to work allowances and get Universal Credit, "fit for families". Garnham said: "Universal credit was meant to improve incentives for taking a job while helping working families get better off. But cuts have shredded it. And families with kids will see the biggest income drops." Since 2013 Universal Credit has changed nine times, most changes making it less generous. This includes cuts in work allowances, a freeze in credit rates for four years and (from April 2017) the child credit being limited to two per family.


title: Universal Credit

text: In October 2017, the Resolution Foundation estimated that compared to the existing tax credit system: 2.2 million working families would be better off under the Universal Credit system, with an average increase in income of £41 a week. On the other hand, the Foundation estimated that 3.2 million working families would be worse off, with an average loss of £48 a week.


title: Universal Credit

text: In October 2018, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Esther McVey MP, admitted that "some people could be worse off on this benefit", but argued that the most vulnerable would be protected.


title: Universal Credit

text: In January 2020, a report by the Resolution Foundation found that Universal Credit creates "a complex mix of winners and losers". It found that in Liverpool, just 32% of families will be better off under Universal Credit, while 52% will be worse off, compared to a national average of 46% losing out, and 39% gaining.


title: Universal Credit

text: Over 60% of claimants experience deductions, many to repay loans they got to tide them over the first five weeks before they officially got payments. Gillian Guy of Citizens Advice said, "Our evidence shows many people on universal credit are struggling to make ends meet, and that deductions are contributing to this." She urged the government to start affordability tests before recovering debts from claimants. Neil Couling, the chief of the universal credit programme, "admitted that the government over the last 18 months has demanded a push to recover old debt and has provided UC with extra funds to do this". The recovery of debts causes hardship, often due to loans given during the initial five-week wait period but with some larger debts from over-payments made in the previous tax credits system when income increased rapidly.


title: Universal Credit

text: Research by the Low Income Tax Reform Group suggests self-employed claimants could be over £2,000 year worse off than employed claimants on similar incomes. The problem applies with fluctuating income as Universal Credit assumes a fixed number of hours worked – the so-called Minimum Income Floor – in its calculation. The government has been urged to change this to allow the self-employed to base claims on their average incomes. Some claimants even could be over £4,000 a year worse off. Some people cannot find work except by being self-employed and such people will be discouraged from starting a business. Frank Field said, "Given what we now know about the hundreds of thousands of workers in the gig economy who earn less than the national living wage, it begs the question as to how many grafters and entrepreneurs are going to be further impoverished, or pushed deeper into debt, as a result of this new hole being opened up in the safety net."


title: Universal Credit

text: Citizens Advice maintains that it risks "creating or exacerbating financial insecurity for the rising sector of the workforce in non-traditional work". People working in their own business will be affected as will those with seasonal work like agriculture and the hotel trade and those with varying overtime pay. 4.5 million people do work with varying hours while 4.8 million are self-employed most receiving in work benefits.


title: Universal Credit

text: Professor John Seddon, an author and occupational psychologist, began a campaign in January 2011 for an alternative way to deliver Universal Credit, arguing it was impossible to deliver high-variety services through "cheaper" transaction channels, and would drive costs up. He wrote an open letter to Iain Duncan Smith and Lord Freud as part of a campaign to call halt to current plans and embark instead on a "systems approach". Seddon also launched a petition calling for Duncan Smith to: "rethink the centralised, IT-dominated service design for the delivery of Universal Credit". Professor Phillip Alston (the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights) visited the UK in 2018 to report on the impact that the austerity measures implemented since 2010 had had on the disabled and reported that the universal credit digital system had been designed to be difficult. His report has prompted academics to call for complementary non-digital services.


title: Universal Credit

text: Echoing these concerns, Ronnie Campbell, MP for Blyth Valley, sponsored an Early Day Motion on 13 June 2011 on the delivery of Universal Credit which was signed by thirty MPs: "That this House notes that since only fifteen per cent of people in deprived areas have used a Government website in the last year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) may find that more Universal Credit customers than expected will turn to face-to-face and telephone help from their local authority, DWP helplines, Government-funded welfare organisations, councillors and their Hon. Member as they find that the automated system is not able to deal with their individual questions, particular concerns and unique set of circumstances".


title: Universal Credit

text: The Trades Union Congress has raised concerns about the delay – which is at least six weeks – between making a claim and receiving money. The Work and Pensions Select Committee said waiting six-weeks for the first payment caused "acute financial difficulty". Reducing the delay would make the policy more likely to succeed. Some claimants must wait eight months for their first payment. About 20% waited nearly five months and roughly 8% had to wait for eight months. Committee Chair, Frank Field said, "Such a long wait bears no relation to anyone's working life and the terrible hardship it has been proven to cause actually makes it more difficult for people to find work. "


title: Universal Credit

text: According to a report in "The Guardian", thousands of claimants get into debt, get behind with their rent and risk eviction due to flaws in Universal Credit. Landlords and politicians want the system overhauled.


title: Universal Credit

text: Due to ongoing problems an official inquiry has been launched into Universal Credit. In October 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May said the six-week delay would continue, despite the concerns of many MPs including some in her own party. A study for Southwark and Croydon councils found substantial increase in indebtedness and rent arrears among claimants on Universal Credit compared with claimants on the old system. Referrals to food banks increased, in one case by 97 per cent.


title: Universal Credit

text: End Hunger UK, a coalition of poverty charities and faith organizations said payment delays, administrative mistakes and failure to support claimants having difficulties with the online only system forced up food bank use. End Hunger UK urged ministers to do a systematic study of how universal credit affects claimants’ financial security. End Hunger UK urged a large cut in the time claimants wait for their first payment from at least five weeks to only two weeks, and maintain the long wait is financially crippling for claimants without savings. The Trussell Trust found demand for food aid rose an average of a 52% in universal credit areas in 2017, contrasted with 13% in areas where it had not been introduced. "It is simply wrong that so many families are forced to use food banks and are getting into serious debt because of the ongoing failings in the benefits system," said Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham.


title: Universal Credit

text: Claimants with children who start work must pay child care early and wait for Universal Credit to repay them later, the Work and Pensions Select Committee reported. The WPSC maintains this is a, "barrier to work". According to the report, "Universal Credit claimants must pay for childcare up front and claim reimbursement from the department after the childcare has been provided. This can leave households waiting weeks or even months to be paid back. Many of those households will be in precarious financial positions which Universal Credit could exacerbate: if, for example, they have fallen into debt or rent arrears while awaiting Universal Credit payments. Too many will face a stark choice: turn down a job offer, or get themselves into debt in order to pay for childcare." The WPSC maintains ministers should pay universal credit childcare costs directly to childcare providers. This would take the burden away from parents and give providers a more certain incomes. Frank Field said, "It's not just driving parents into despair and debt and creating problems for childcare providers – it's also actively working to prevent the government achieving its own aim of getting more people into work."


title: Universal Credit

text: The High Court ruled in January 2019 that the DWP "wrongly interpreted" regulations covering the calculation of Universal Credit payments in cases where working claimants' paydays fluctuated. The DWP's interpretation had meant receiving a salary a few days early because of a weekend or bank holiday "vastly reduced" one's universal credit payment, a situation the judges described as "odd in the extreme" that "could be said to lead to nonsensical situations". The DWP had defended this anomaly by saying that changing its automated system would be expensive. The Child Poverty Action Group said the anomaly had caused "untold hardship, stress and misery" and forced one of the working single mothers in the case to rely on food banks, despite requiring fresh fruit and vegetables due to pregnancy.


title: Universal Credit

text: In February 2019, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd, conceded that "there were challenges with the initial roll-out of universal credit. The main issue which led to an increase in food bank use could have been the fact that people had difficulty accessing their money early enough". Rudd went on to explain that "We have made changes to accessing universal credit so that people can have advances, so that there is a legacy run-on after two weeks of housing benefit, and we believe that will help with food and security".


title: Universal Credit

text: Direct payment of the housing component of Universal Credit (formerly Housing Benefit) to tenants has been the subject of controversy. Although Housing Benefit has long been paid to most private sector tenants directly, for social housing tenants it has historically been paid directly to their landlords. As a result, implementation of a social housing equivalent to the Local Housing Allowance policy, which has been present in the private sector without comment for over a decade, has widely been perceived as a tax on having extra bedrooms, rather than the tenant making up a shortfall in the rent arising from a standardisation of their level of benefit.


title: Universal Credit

text: The Social Security Advisory Committee have argued that the policy of direct payments requires "close monitoring" so as to make sure Universal Credit does not further discourage landlords from renting to people on benefits.


title: Universal Credit

text: The Institute for Fiscal Studies has argued that Universal Credit is a disincentive for people to save money, as when liquid savings exceed £6,000 the Universal Credit award is reduced until savings fall below £6,000.


title: Universal Credit

text: The Resolution Foundation has warned that Universal Credit will have a detrimental effect on self-employed people, because the level of Universal Credit awarded does not fully take account of any dramatic changes in their income from month to month.


title: Universal Credit

text: According to the Child Poverty Action Group, Universal Credit may the low-paid self-employed and anyone who makes a tax loss (spends more on tax-deductible expenses than they receive in taxable income) in a given tax year.


title: Universal Credit

text: Citizens Advice research argued that 450,000 disabled people and their families would be worse off under universal credit. The Work and Pensions Select Committee found Universal Credit's system of sanctions to be "pointlessly cruel", and asked for Universal Credit to be put on hold till it is clear that very vulnerable disabled claimants are protected from serious income loss. Single disabled people in employment were found to be £300 per month worse off when moved on to Universal Credit. Claimants risk being isolated, destitute and in some cases forced to rely on dependent children for care, according to the committee.


title: Universal Credit

text: The "Daily Mirror" reported an example of a claimant who was moved over to Universal Credit from a "legacy benefit" and whose passported benefits, such as free school meals, were withdrawn in error.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit payments go to one person in each household, so abuse victims and their children are often left dependent according to a Work and Pensions Committee report and abusers can exert financial control. It is feared this can facilitate abuse and enable bullying. Financial abuse is also facilitated, one abuse survivor said to the committee that "[the abusive partner] will wake up one morning with £1,500 in his account and piss off with it, leaving us with nothing for weeks." Committee chair, Frank Field said, "This is not the 1950s. Men and women work independently, pay taxes as individuals, and should each have an independent income. Not only does UC's single household payment bear no relation to the world of work, it is out of step with modern life and turns back the clock on decades of hard-won equality for women." MPs listened to evidence that abuse victims found the whole of their income, including money intended for the children, went into the abuser's bank account. The report noted the single household payment caused difficulties for victims wanting to leave and said, "there is a serious risk of Universal Credit increasing the powers of abusers". The report called for all Job Centres to have a private room where people at risk of abuse could state their concerns confidentially. There should also be a domestic abuse specialist in each Job Centre who could alert other staff to signs of abuse. Scotland wants to split payments by default but needs the DWP to change the IT system. The report wants the department to work with Scotland and test a new split payment system. Katie Ghose of Women's Aid called on the government to implement the report and stated, "It is clear from this report that there are major concerns about the safety of Universal Credit in cases where there is domestic abuse."


title: Universal Credit

text: The campaign group Women's Aid have argued that as Universal Credit benefits are paid as a single payment to the household, this has negative consequences for victims of domestic abuse. "The Guardian" also argued the change disempowers women, preventing them from being financially independent. Women's Aid and the TUC jointly did research showing 52 per cent of victims living with their abuser claimed financial abuse prevented them from leaving. Under Universal Credit when a couple separates, one person must inform the DWP, and make a fresh claim, which takes at least five weeks to process. Someone without money, and possibly with children cannot manage such a wait. Katie Ghose said, "We're really concerned that the implications for women for whom financial abuse is an issue have not been fully thought through or appreciated by the government." Jess Phillips stated, "What we are doing is essentially eliminating the tiny bit of financial independence that at woman might have had." And, she added, the DWP keeps no data on whether Universal Credit goes to men or to women, therefore the magnitude of the problem cannot be measured.


title: Universal Credit

text: In the report "Pop Goes the Payslip" the advice organisation Citizens Advice highlighted examples of people in work worse off under Universal Credit than under the 'legacy' benefits it replaces. Similarly, a report from 2012 by Save the Children highlights how "a single parent with two children, working full-time on or around the minimum wage, could be as much as £2,500 a year worse".


title: Universal Credit

text: Gingerbread has also highlighted their concerns over Universal Credit's disproportional impact on single parent families in particular. As of August 2018, 25% of all recipients were lone parents, with 90% of all single parent families eligible for Universal Credit when the benefit is fully rolled out. Single parents make up the overwhelming majority of claimants affected by the Benefit Cap under Universal Credit: 73% of capped households are headed by single parents, while 75% of those have a child under five - a fact which greatly impacts their ability to find suitable work.


title: Universal Credit

text: A House of Commons Library briefing note raised the concern that changes to Universal Credit that were scheduled to take effect in April 2016 might make people reluctant to take more hours at work:


title: Universal Credit

text: There is concern that families transferring to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration whose entitlement to UC is substantially lower than their existing benefits and tax credits might be reluctant to move into work or increase their hours if this would trigger a loss of transitional protection, thereby undermining the UC incentives structure.The very long application and assessment hiatus also discourages UC recipients from moving off Universal Credit entirely, for more than six months, fearful having to undergo repeated and very long waiting periods, with no income, resulting because of redundancy and/or loss of temporary employment for legitimate reasons necessitating reapplication for Universal Credit from scratch.


title: Universal Credit

text: In 2015, the Chancellor announced a future £3.2 billion a year cut to the Universal Credit budget after an attempt to cut Tax Credits that year was thwarted by parliament. The Resolution Foundation has argued that this cut risks the new system failing to achieve its original purpose of incentivising work in low-income households. The 2015 cut was partly reversed in the 2018 budget by a promised uplift of £1.7 billion per year to the money available to encourage recipients to increase their hours at work.


title: Universal Credit

text: A freedom of information request was made by Tony Collins and John Slater in 2012. They sought the publication of documents detailing envisioned problems, problems that arose with implementation, and a high-level review.


title: Universal Credit

text: In March 2016, a third judicial case ordered the DWP to release the documents. The government's argument against releasing the documents was the possibility of a chilling effect for the DWP and other government departments.


title: Universal Credit

text: Universal Credit has been dogged by IT problems. A DWP whistleblower told Channel 4's Dispatches in 2014 that the computer system was "completely unworkable", "badly designed" and "out of date". A 2015 survey of Universal Credit staff found that 90% considered the IT system inadequate.


title: Universal Credit

text: Claimants on low income were forced to pay for long telephone calls. Citizens Advice in England carried out a survey in summer 2017 which found an average waiting time of 39 minutes with claimants often needing to make repeated calls. Nearly a third of respondents said they made over 10 calls. The government was urged to make telephone calls over Universal Credit free for claimants which was done in 2019.


title: Universal Credit

text: In December 2018, Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden wrote to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd, to raise concerns after a number of people claiming Universal Credit were told to apply for provisional driving licences as a form of ID, with the costs being taken from their benefits. In response to the letter a DWP spokesperson said that "having ID is not a requirement for those making a Universal Credit claim", though this appeared to contradict the guidance on the government's website.


title: Universal Credit

text: It was originally hoped that Universal Credit would help to save about £1bn in fraud and error. However, in July 2019 it was revealed that an estimated £20 million of public money had been stolen by fraudsters. Criminals were found to be exploiting a loophole in the online system to fraudulently apply for universal credit and claiming advance loans on behalf of other people who were unaware that they had been signed up for the benefit. One jobcentre reported that £100,000 of fraudulent activity had been recorded each month. It was estimated that 42,000 people may have fallen victim to the scam.


title: Universal Credit

text: Following the revelations, the Work and Pensions minister Justin Tomlinson announced that "where it is clear that they have been a victim of fraud through no fault of their own, no, we would not expect them to pay it back." A spokesperson from the Department for Work and Pensions later explained that victims of the scam would have to repay any money that they had kept.


title: Universal Credit

text: A study by "The Lancet Public Health Journal" released in February 2020 linked a sharp increase in mental-health problems among the unemployed with the rollout of Universal Credit and other government welfare changes. It found that the number of unemployed people with psychological distress rose by 6.6% from 2013 to 2018. It also found a third of unemployed recipients of Universal Credit were likely to have become clinically depressed.


title: Qatar SC

text: Qatar Sports Club () is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 as a merger of two Qatari football clubs Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour.


title: Qatar SC

text: They play their home games in the fourth largest stadium in Qatar, Qatar SC Stadium, which has a capacity of 15,000 It has recently diversified into sports other than football. An athletics group has been established, and this department competes in javelin throwing, long jumps, and sprinting. The club adopted its current name, "Qatar SC", in 1981.


title: Qatar SC

text: In 1972, Al-Oruba merged with Al-Nasour to forma new football club named "Al-Esteqlal". Former player Saad Mohammed Saleh was selected as the first coach. Al Esteqlal was one of the strongest clubs since its establishment, winning its first official Q-League season in 1972–73. The next year, in 1974, Al Sadd hired head coach Hassan Othman from the club in addition to 14 of its players, including Hassan Mattar and Mubarak Anber, much to the dismay of club president Hamad bin Suhaim. During this period, transfers could be made unconditionally in Qatari football. Despite the resounding difficulties arising from the transfer fiasco, it continued with its success, winning the 1976–77 season and supplying the national team with some of its most prominent players.


title: Qatar SC

text: Al Esteqlal was renamed Qatar SC in 1981. However, it gradually faded into obscurity for the next 2 decades, with the league being dominated by Al Arabi, Al Sadd, and Al Rayyan. The club won the Qatar Crown Prince Cup in 2002 and also won the 2002–03 league season by three points. They won the Crown Prince Cup the same year, and again in 2009. The club was relegated to Qatari Second Division after the 2015-16 season, but were promoted back to the top division the next season.


title: Qatar SC

text: Qatar SC play their matches at Suheim bin Hamad Stadium, which is located in Al Dafna. It is a multi-purpose stadium, featuring an athletics field, a gym, a shopping centre and a mosque, among other facilities. The stadium has a capacity of 15,000 seats. Besides local football matches, the stadium also hosts a number of tournaments such as Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix and some of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup matches.


title: Flying Squad

text: The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbreviation of the Cockney rhyming slang "Sweeney Todd".


title: Flying Squad

text: The squad was originally formed on an experimental basis by Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Wensley. In October 1919, Wensley summoned 12 detectives to Scotland Yard to form the squad. The group was initially named the Mobile Patrol Experiment and its original orders were to perform surveillance and gather intelligence on known robbers and pickpockets, using a horse-drawn carriage with covert holes cut into the canvas.


title: Flying Squad

text: In 1920, it was officially reorganised under the authority of then Commissioner Nevil Macready. Headed by Detective Inspector Walter Hambrook, the squad was composed of 12 detective officers, including Irish-born Jeremiah Lynch (1888–1953), who had earned a fearsome reputation for tracking wartime German spies and for building up the case against confidence trickster Horatio Bottomley. The Mobile Patrol Experiment was given authorisation to carry out duties anywhere in the Metropolitan Police District, meaning that its officers did not have to observe Divisions, giving rise to the name of the Flying Squad because the unit operated across London without adhering to divisional policing boundaries.


title: Flying Squad

text: An alternative explanation for the "Flying Squad" name is that the first vehicles used were refurbished Crossley Motors 20/25 type tenders previously used by the Royal Flying Corps, which were supplied to the Metropolitan Police in 1920.


title: Flying Squad

text: Throughout the 1920s, the squad was standardised and expanded, and the establishment was expanded to 40 officers, under the command of Detective Chief Inspector Fred "Nutty" Sharpe until his retirement in July 1937. In 1948, the squad was given the designation of C.O.(C.8) for Commissioner's Office Crime 8 and was augmented. By 1956 it made one thousand arrests per year for the first time.


title: Flying Squad

text: From 1978 to 1981 the name was changed to the Central Robbery Squad, but still known as the Flying Squad. It is often referred to by the nicknames the "Heavy Mob" or "the Sweeney" (rhyming slang for Flying Squad, from Sweeney Todd).


title: Flying Squad

text: This was the era in which the squad's close ties with the criminal fraternity, which had always been a necessary part of its strategy, were being exposed to public criticism. A number of scandals involving bribery and corruption were revealed, and on 7 July 1977, the squad's commander, Detective Chief Superintendent Kenneth Drury, was convicted on five counts of corruption and imprisoned for eight years. Twelve other officers were also convicted and many more resigned. These and other scandals led to a massive internal investigation by the Dorset Constabulary into the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police, codenamed Operation Countryman.


title: Flying Squad

text: Flying Squad officers dress in plain civilian clothing. Officers carry firearms, most commonly the Glock 17 pistol. When in covert operations with civilian clothing, they conceal the sidearm in a belt holster or shoulder holster.


title: Flying Squad

text: The Flying Squad's work was dramatised in the 1970s British television series "The Sweeney", and two theatrically released feature film spin-offs, "Sweeney!" and "Sweeney 2", starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. A further film adaptation, "The Sweeney" (starring Ray Winstone), was released in 2012.


title: Flying Squad

text: A Monty Python sketch featured "Inspector Fox of the Light Entertainment Police, Comedy Division, Special Flying Squad", and "Inspector Thompson's Gazelle of the Programme Planning Police, Light Entertainment Division, Special Flying Squad."


title: Flying Squad

text: In an episode of the "Thin Blue Line", Inspector Fowler expresses displeasure at the idea of the Flying Squad using his station for an investigation on the grounds that their members urinate inaccurately.


title: Karma (1986 film)

text: Karma (Hindi:कर्मा) is a 1986 Bollywood action film directed by Subhash Ghai and featuring an ensemble cast including Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Sridevi, Poonam Dhillon and Anupam Kher. The film reunites Subhash Ghai and Dilip Kumar after the success of their last film together "Vidhaata" (1982). The film also marked the first time Dilip Kumar was paired with veteran actress Nutan. It was the top grossing Indian film of 1986 and the eleventh highest-grossing Bollywood film of the decade.


title: Karma (1986 film)

text: Rana Vishwa Pratap Singh, an ex-high ranking police officer is in charge of a jail that successfully reforms criminals.


title: Karma (1986 film)

text: He is informed that 50 year old Dr. Michael Dang, the head of a major terrorist organisation who is captured, and he is held in his prison due to its remote location. Dang assaults a jail warden during an argument. Vishwa slaps Dang, which is highly insulting in Indian culture. Dang vows revenge on him.


title: Karma (1986 film)

text: While Vishwa is away, Dang's army free him. They set about destroying the prison and killing Vishwa's family who live nearby. However, his wife is spared. After a period of mourning, Vishwa embarks on a mission to bring Dang's organisation to justice. The mission is approved by Indian government, and Vishwa successfully recruits Baiju Thakur, Johnny/Gyaneshwar, and an ex-terrorist Khairuddin Chishti.


title: Karma (1986 film)

text: Under the disguise of a forest ranger, Vishwa sets up bases around the Indian border near where they believe Dang's compound is located. Vishwa, Baiju, Johnny and Chishti form a strong bond during their training, and Baiju and Johnny fall in love with Radha and Tulsi, respectively. Chishti pleads with Vishwa to let Baiju and Johnny leave as he believes they have been reformed. Vishwa is unhappy.


title: Karma (1986 film)

text: As far as Vishwa is concerned their only motive was to complete the mission. The terrorists shoot him while he protects Baiju, Johnny and Chishti who are locked in a nearby building. Vishwa is hospitalized. The three soldiers are distraught and realize they need to complete the mission for Singh. They then receive intelligence on the exact location of Dr Dang's compound which they successfully infiltrate. With the help of hostages (who are Indian army soldiers) who have been held captive by the terrorists, they set about destroying the compound and killing the terrorists. It soon becomes apparent that the destruction of the heavily guarded munitions center is the only way the terrorists organisation can be defeated. Khairuddin hatches a plan that involves driving a truck filled with explosives into the heart of the building. Baiju and Johnny argue that the plan is too dangerous and they would all be killed in the process. However Khairuddin wants to sacrifice himself so that his friends can enjoy their newfound freedom. Baiju and Johnny are forcibly removed off the truck by Khairuddin who then goes on to destroy the munitions centrer at the cost of his life. Johnny and Baiju return to the main compound and kill the remaining terrorists bringing the battle to its conclusion. Singh, having made a swift recovery, joins the battle and kills Dr. Dang thus completing the mission.


title: Karma (1986 film)

text: The two surviving soldiers are awarded bravery medals and a posthumous award is granted to Khairuddin.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: The Mozilla Corporation (stylized as moz://a) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Firefox web browser, by a global community of open-source developers, some of whom are employed by the corporation itself. The corporation also distributes and promotes these products. Unlike the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, and the Mozilla open source project, founded by the now defunct Netscape Communications Corporation, the Mozilla Corporation is a taxable entity. The Mozilla Corporation reinvests all of its profits back into the Mozilla projects. The Mozilla Corporation's stated aim is to work towards the Mozilla Foundation's public benefit to "promote choice and innovation on the Internet."


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: A MozillaZine article explained:The Mozilla Foundation will ultimately control the activities of the Mozilla Corporation and will retain its 100 percent ownership of the new subsidiary. Any profits made by the Mozilla Corporation will be invested back into the Mozilla project. There will be no shareholders, no stock options will be issued and no dividends will be paid. The Mozilla Corporation will not be floating on the stock market and it will be impossible for any company to take over or buy a stake in the subsidiary. The Mozilla Foundation will continue to own the Mozilla trademarks and other intellectual property and will license them to the Mozilla Corporation. The Foundation will also continue to govern the source code repository and control who is allowed to check in.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: The Mozilla Corporation was established on August 3, 2005, to handle the revenue-related operations of the Mozilla Foundation. As a non-profit, the Mozilla Foundation is limited in terms of the types and amounts of revenue it can have. The Mozilla Corporation, as a taxable organization (essentially, a commercial operation), does not have to comply with such strict rules. Upon its creation, the Mozilla Corporation took over several areas from the Mozilla Foundation, including coordination and integration of the development of Firefox and Thunderbird (by the global free software community) and the management of relationships with businesses.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: With the creation of the Mozilla Corporation, the rest of the Mozilla Foundation narrowed its focus to concentrate on the Mozilla project's governance and policy issues. In November 2005, with the release of Mozilla Firefox 1.5, the Mozilla Corporation's website at mozilla.com was unveiled as the new home of the Firefox and Thunderbird products online.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In 2006, the Mozilla Corporation generated $66.8 million in revenue and $19.8 million in expenses, with 85% of that revenue coming from Google for "assigning [Google] as the browser's default search engine, and for click-throughs on ads placed on the ensuing search results pages."


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: Mozilla Taiwan (, stylized as moz://a) was a branch of the corporation founded in that promoted and deployed Mozilla products in Taiwan. It ceased operations on 11 August 2020 due to a "significant restructuring" of its parent company.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In March 2006, Jason Calacanis reported a rumor on his blog that Mozilla Corporation gained $72M during the previous year, mainly thanks to the Google search box in the Firefox browser. The rumor was later addressed by Christopher Blizzard, then a member of the board, who wrote on his blog that, "it's not correct, though not off by an order of magnitude." Two years later, "TechCrunch" wrote: "In return for setting Google as the default search engine on Firefox, Google pays Mozilla a substantial sum – in 2006, the total amounted to around $57 million, or 85% of the company's total revenue. The deal was originally going to expire in 2006, but was later extended to 2008 and then ran through 2011." The deal was extended again another 3 years, until November 2014. Under the deal, Mozilla was to have received from Google another $900 million ($300 million annually), nearly 3 times the previous amount. The partnership to use Google as the default search engine was resumed after a three-year hiatus in 2017.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In August 2006, Microsoft invited Mozilla employees to collaborate to ensure compatibility of Mozilla software with then upcoming Windows Vista. Microsoft offered to host one-to-one at the new open-source facility at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. Mozilla accepted the offer.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In March 2014, Mozilla came under some criticism after it appointed Brendan Eich as its new chief executive officer (CEO). In 2008, Eich had made a $1,000 contribution in support of California Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that barred legal recognition of same-sex marriages in California. Three of six Mozilla board members reportedly resigned over the choice of CEO, though Mozilla said the resigning board members had "a variety of reasons" and reasserted its continued commitment to LGBT equality, including same-sex marriage. On April 1, the online dating site OkCupid started displaying visitors using Mozilla Firefox a message urging them to switch to a different web browser, pointing out that 8% of the matches made on OkCupid are between same-sex couples. On April 3, Mozilla announced that Eich had decided to step down as CEO and also leave the board of Mozilla Foundation. This, in turn, prompted criticism from some commentators who criticized the pressure that led Eich to resign. For example, Conor Friedersdorf argued in "The Atlantic" that "the general practice of punishing people in business for bygone political donations is most likely to entrench powerful interests and weaken the ability of the powerless to challenge the status quo."


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In April 2014, Chris Beard, the former chief marketing officer of Mozilla, was appointed interim CEO. Beard was named CEO on July 28 of the same year.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: On February 27, 2017, Mozilla acquired the bookmark manager and suggestion service Pocket. In accordance with Mozilla's history of operating as "open by default" and based on comments by Mozilla chief business officer Denelle Dixon-Thayer that Pocket would "become part of the Mozilla open source project", it was reported that Pocket would become open source. Prior to the acquisition, the startup behind Pocket operated it as a closed source, commercial service, and Mozilla published the source code that added a "Save to Pocket" feature to Firefox as open source. , Pocket remains closed source, while the extension remains open source.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In February 2017, Mozilla dissolved its IoT "Connected Devices" initiative, firing around 50 employees, to focus on "Emerging Technologies" like AR, VR and Servo/Rust.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: On August 29, 2019, Mozilla and Chris Beard jointly announced that 2019 will be Beard's last year as CEO of Mozilla. In December, Mitchell Baker became the interim CEO, before being named CEO in April 2020.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In January 2020, it was reported that Mozilla would be laying off 70 employees after the new revenue streams could not deliver the expected revenue quickly enough. In August 2020, Mozilla announced restructuring that will close down Mozilla operations in Taipei, Taiwan, and reduce Mozilla's workforce in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. All together, about 250 people would be let go with severance packages and around 60 people would be reassigned to different projects or teams. Mozilla is "reducing investment in some areas such as developer tools, internal tooling, and platform feature development" and reorganizing "security/privacy products" to prioritize revenue-generating projects. Shortly after the announcement of staff cuts, Mozilla insiders leaked information that the Google search deal will be extended until 2023 instead of expiring in 2020, meaning the corporation financial state is stable.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In December 2020, Mozilla closed its headquarters office in Mountain View, citing reduced need for office space due to pandemic. The title of HQ office went to the San Francisco office.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: The Mozilla Corporation's relationship with Google has been noted in the popular press, especially with regard to their paid referral agreement. Mozilla's original deal with Google to have Google Search as the default web search engine in the browser expired in 2011, but a new deal was struck, where Google agreed to pay Mozilla just under a billion dollars over three years until 2017 in exchange for keeping Google as its default search engine. The price was driven up due to aggressive bidding from Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo!'s presence in the auction as well. Despite the deal, Mozilla Firefox maintains relationships with Bing, Yahoo!, Yandex, Baidu, Amazon.com and eBay. The partnership with Google was renewed in 2017 and remains active .


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: The 2007 release of the anti-phishing protection in Firefox 2 in particular raised considerable controversy: Anti-phishing protection, enabled by default, is based on a list updated twice hourly from Google's servers. The browser also sends a cookie with each update request. Internet privacy advocacy groups have expressed concerns surrounding Google's possible uses for this data, especially since Firefox's privacy policy states that Google may share (non-personally identifying) information gathered through safe browsing with third parties, including business partners.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: Following Google CEO Eric Schmidt's comments in December 2009 regarding privacy during a CNBC show, Asa Dotzler, Mozilla's director of community development suggested that users use the Bing search engine instead of Google search. Google also promoted Firefox through YouTube until the release of Google Chrome.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In November 2014, Mozilla signed a five-year partnership with Yahoo!, making Yahoo! Search the default search engine for Firefox browsers in the US. With the release of Firefox Quantum on November 17, 2017, Google became the default search engine again.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: Microsoft's head of Australian operations, Steve Vamos, stated in late 2004 that he did not see Firefox as a threat and that there was not significant demand for the feature-set of Firefox among Microsoft's users. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has used Firefox, but has commented that "it's just another browser, and IE [Microsoft's Internet Explorer] is better".


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: A Microsoft SEC filing on June 30, 2005, acknowledged that "competitors such as Mozilla offer software that competes with the Internet Explorer Web browsing capabilities of our Windows operating system products." The release of Internet Explorer 7 was fast tracked, and included functionality that was previously available in Firefox and other browsers, such as tabbed browsing and RSS feeds.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: Despite the cold reception from Microsoft's top management, the Internet Explorer development team maintains a relationship with Mozilla. They meet regularly to discuss web standards such as extended validation certificates. In 2005, Mozilla agreed to allow Microsoft to use its Web feed logo in the interest of common graphical representation of the Web feeds feature.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In August 2006, Microsoft offered to help Mozilla integrate Firefox with the then-forthcoming Windows Vista, an offer Mozilla accepted.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In October 2006, as congratulations for a successful ship of Firefox 2, the Internet Explorer 7 development team sent a cake to Mozilla. As a nod to the browser wars, some jokingly suggested that Mozilla send a cake back along with the recipe, in reference to the open-source software movement. The IE development team sent another cake on June 17, 2008, upon the successful release of Firefox 3, again on March 22, 2011, for Firefox 4, and yet again for the Firefox 5 release.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In November 2007, Jeff Jones (a "security strategy director" in Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group) criticized Firefox, claiming that Internet Explorer experienced fewer vulnerabilities and fewer higher severity vulnerabilities than Firefox in typical enterprise scenarios.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: Mozilla developer Mike Shaver discounted the study, citing Microsoft's bundling of security fixes and the study's focus on fixes, rather than vulnerabilities, as crucial flaws.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In February 2009, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for version 3.5 of the .NET Framework. This update also installed Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant add-on (enabling ClickOnce support). The update received media attention after users discovered that the add-on could not be uninstalled through the add-ons interface. Several hours after the website Annoyances.org posted an article regarding this update, Microsoft employee Brad Abrams posted in his blog Microsoft's explanation for why the add-on was installed, and also included detailed instructions on how to remove it. However, the only way to get rid of this extension was to modify manually the Windows Registry, which could cause Windows systems to fail to boot up if not done correctly.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: On October 16, 2009, Mozilla blocked all versions of Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant from being used with Firefox and from the Mozilla Add-ons service. Two days later, the add-on was removed from the blocklist after confirmation from Microsoft that it is not a vector for vulnerabilities. Version 1.1 (released on June 10, 2009, to the Mozilla Add-ons service) and later of the Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant allows the user to disable and uninstall in the normal fashion.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: Firefox was one of the twelve browsers offered to European Economic Area users of Microsoft Windows from 2010 – see BrowserChoice.eu.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: The Internal Revenue Service opened an audit of the Mozilla Foundation's 2004-5 revenues in 2008, due to its search royalties, and in 2009, the investigation was expanded to the 2006 and 2007 tax years, though that part of the audit was closed. As Mozilla does not derive at least a third of its revenue from public donations, it does not automatically qualify as a public charity.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: In November 2012, the audit was closed after finding that the Mozilla Foundation owed a settlement of $1.5 million to the IRS.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: Most Mozilla Foundation employees transferred to the new organization at Mozilla Corporation's founding.


title: Mozilla Corporation

text: The board of directors is appointed by and responsible to Mozilla Foundation's board. In March 2014, half the board members resigned. The remaining board members are:


title: Resistance during World War II

text: Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, resistance movements were sometimes also referred to as The Underground.


title: Resistance during World War II

text: The resistance movements in World War II can be broken down into two primary politically polarized camps: the internationalist and usually Communist Party-led anti-fascist resistance that existed in nearly every country in the world; and the various fascist/anti-communist nationalist resistance groups in Nazi- or Soviet-occupied countries that opposed the foreign fascists and the communists, often switching sides depending on the vicissitudes of the war and which side of the ever-moving military front lines they found themselves on.


title: Resistance during World War II

text: Among the most notable resistance movements were the Polish Resistance (including the Polish Home Army, Leśni, People’s Army, and the greater Polish Underground State); the Yugoslav Partisans, the Soviet partisans, the Chinese resistance, the Italian "Resistenza" (led mainly by the Italian CLN); the Jewish Resistance in various Nazi-occupied territories; the Greek Resistance, the French Resistance, the Belgian Resistance, the Norwegian Resistance, the Danish Resistance, the Czech resistance, the Albanian resistance, the Dutch Resistance (especially the "LO" (national hiding organisation)) and the politically persecuted opposition in Germany itself (there were 16 main resistance groups and at least 27 failed attempts to assassinate Hitler with many more planned): in short, across German-occupied Europe.


title: Resistance during World War II

text: Many countries had resistance movements dedicated to fighting or undermining the Axis invaders, and Nazi Germany itself also had an anti-Nazi movement. Although Britain was not occupied during the war, the British made complex preparations for a British resistance movement. The main organisation was created by the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, aka MI6) and is now known as Section VII. In addition there was a short-term secret commando force called the Auxiliary Units. Various organizations were also formed to establish foreign resistance cells or support existing resistance movements, like the British Special Operations Executive and the American Office of Strategic Services (the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency).


title: Resistance during World War II

text: There were also resistance movements fighting against Allied invaders. In Italian East Africa, after the Italian were defeated during the East African Campaign, some Italian soldiers and settlers participated in a guerrilla war against the Allies from 1941 to 1943. Though the Werwolf Nazi German resistance movement never amounted to much, the German Volkssturm played an extensive role in the Battle of Berlin. The "Forest Brothers" of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania included many fighters who operated against the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States into the 1960s. During or after the war, similar anti-Soviet resistance rose up in places like Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Chechnya.


title: Resistance during World War II

text: While historians and governments of some European countries have attempted to portray resistance to Nazi occupation as widespread among their populations, only a small minority of people participated in organized resistance, estimated at one to three percent of the population of countries in western Europe. In eastern Europe where Nazi rule was more oppressive, a larger percentage of people were in organized resistance movements, for example, an estimated 10-15 percent of the Polish population. Passive resistance by non-cooperation with the occupiers was much more common.