Boris Johnson 'understands' difficulties people face ahead of plans to axe Universal Credit uplift

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his plan to withdraw the £20 uplift on Universal Credit.

It'll be axed on Wednesday, leaving many families across the North West struggling to make ends meet.

On Monday the Chancellor Rishi Sunak gave a speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester to lay out those funding plans in more detail.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister also pledged two and a half million pounds to projects helping women and girls feel safer on our streets.

The money will be shared between projects to protect women and girls in Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Blackpool.

They include innovative plans to offer better protection in public spaces and on services such as Manchester's Metrolink.

It comes after the sentencing of former Policeman Wayne Couzens for the murder of Sarah Everard.

Earlier Mr Johnson claimed that the British public CAN trust the police, and called upon forces to hire more female officers.

Speaking to Granada Reports, the Prime Minister said the government will push for more prosecutions for rape, domestic violence and sexual violence to give women 'the security they deserve'.