Your Call Is Important to Us
Seriously...
BBC
4.1 • 885 Ratings
🗓️ 7 July 2020
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Nearly two million people are now known to have applied for Universal Credit since the start of the Coronavirus lockdown. For many of them it’s their first time, and is in sharp contrast to how they expected their lives to be. To make a claim, many start off by calling the Universal Credit Hotline, a process that can take hours. Once they start their claim it's likely they'll need to wait five weeks for their first payment. As they wait, in isolation in their homes, we discover more about their lives and follow them on their benefits journey. What led them to this point, how are their personal lives affected and how do they feel? We'll be with them for the ups and the downs. We'll meet Caroline, who works in HR and is battling illness while making a claim, Dan who plays the saxophone and has moved back home to his mum's house because he couldn't afford to live in London and Matt the warehouse worker whose health means he is shielding on his own in a flat with just the birds for company. Plus, we'll have a statement from the Department for Work and Pensions on how they've responded to this extraordinary moment in welfare.
Produced and presented by Jess Quayle. Technical Production by Mike Smith.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box. |
| 0:05.0 | The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from. |
| 0:09.0 | And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.0 | The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.5 | The IRA inmates who found a way. |
| 0:14.5 | I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path |
| 0:19.5 | through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history. |
| 0:25.0 | The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them. |
| 0:28.5 | Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:35.0 | BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:39.0 | Hi, I'm Riana Dylan, |
| 0:41.0 | and this is seriously. |
| 0:43.7 | Each week we feature interesting stories told a little sideways and we have a real treat for you this week. I've just turned my phone speaker off there so the whole music disappears for a bit. |
| 1:07.0 | Yeah, so just waiting. I'm Jess. I've covered stories about Universal Credit for years. It was a new system, learning as it went. |
| 1:23.0 | Pilot schemes, slow rollouts, taking its time, growing steadily. |
| 1:27.0 | Then, suddenly, nearly 2 million applications in just a few weeks. It's enough to fill Wernby Stadium 20 times |
| 1:37.9 | over. Lost work, lost jobs, lost time. |
| 1:59.0 | Due to the coronavirus, we including Paul. He's handy with a guitar. Oh, My name is Paul, I'm 34 and I'm a guitarist and music teacher who lives in East Manchester with my wife Hayley. |
| 2:37.0 | Lockdown kind of ended our work instantly, myself and my wife Haley. |
| 2:45.6 | Suddenly had no work, so we had to adapt quite quickly to operating online and go through |
| 2:51.3 | the process of applying for universal credit. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.