TORY Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd is delaying the full roll-out of the dysfunctional universal credit scheme in the face of mounting criticism.

Parliament was poised to decide whether to move millions of benefit claimants onto universal credit.

However, the crucial vote has been kicked down the line and MPs will now only be asked to vote on shifting 10,000 people over to the new scheme.

The postponement follows the BBC broadcasting the network premiere of Ken Loach’s award-winning film I, Daniel Blake last night, provoking fierce debate among MPs about Britain’s welfare system.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey tweeted: “If anyone is in any doubt of the human cost of Tory austerity on our communities please watch    I, Daniel Blake  tonight.”

Tory Party deputy chairman James Cleverly MP disagreed, asking: “You do realise that it’s not a documentary, don’t you. Don’t you?”

Mr Cleverly’s stance triggered a barrage of criticism and he later tried to defend his comments on Twitter.

He described the film as “powerful and moving” but attacked it as a “political polemic” that is “particularly unfair on the public-sector professionals who work in Jobcentre Plus.”

The Tory grandee said that, in his experience, jobcentre staff “are proactive and helpful. Completely at odds with their portrayal in the film.”

He insisted that Labour MPs were “simply wrong” to cite the film as “proof of how the benefits system works.”

The film portrays a 59-year-old carpenter recovering from a heart attack who falls into dire poverty when his benefit payments are stopped. 

Based on rigorous research, I, Daniel Blake won a Bafta award and  the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union defended the film, saying: “The reality of the sanctions regime and the growth of foodbanks was well documented during the recent screening of I, Daniel Blake, a film which PCS members assisted film-makers with research.”

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “What we need to do is stop demonising the poor and radically overhaul the social security system.”

He warned that universal credit would be a “disaster” and welcomed Ms Rudd’s decision to delay it. However, he said: “The entire roll-out should not just be reduced in size but completely halted.”