Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson Stephen Lloyd MP said:
"The government has shown contempt for parliament by yet again seeking to ignore votes that happen to be inconvenient. Parliamentary votes are meant to matter, this is not a debating society.

"None of this changes the fact that the government's Universal Credit proposals are a slow motion car crash. The government lost the argument, and now it has lost the vote.
"Ministers must now re-consider these proposals that will draw millions into poverty. Parliament has spoken, the government has a duty, a moral duty, to now listen.

"I welcome the government's change of heart, but it is no compensation to the those on the breadline who have already been fleeced. Given the mess of Universal Credit, this is likely to become the hotest hotline in Britain.

"To even think about charging our most vulnerable citizens before they received their benefit shows just how out of touch the Conservatives are over Universal Credit.

Stephen Lloyd said:

"This is a slow motion car crash. One and a half million people are in private rented accommodation and in receipt of housing benefit. Private landlords are not in a position, financially, to be as forgiving as councils and housing associations. With the delays in payment we have already seen, many vulnerable people will lose their homes. And many landlords will simply stop taking on Universal Credit tenants, so where are these hundreds of thousands of people supposed to live?

"There is a mounting sense that the government could be defeated if it does not immediately pause the roll-out of Universal Credit.

"The roll-out has been an utter failure so far, with many claimants waiting over two months for their first payment and some relying on loans to survive. Rent arrears among universal credit claimants are also through the roof.

According to charities, councils and housing associations, the rollout of the universal credit is a disaster in slow-motion.

A mandatory six-week wait to receive a first payment is causing people serious difficulties, with over half of new claimants having to borrow money to make ends meet. Universal Credit's policy of making claimants pay landlords

Introducing the new Liberal Democrat team of 12 MPs, representing constituencies from Orkney to Eastbourne.

Thank you for each and every vote for the Liberal Democrats nationally, and to everyone who has helped the Liberal Democrat campaign in any way in these seats and across the country.

• Tom Brake, Carshalton
• Vince Cable, Twickenham
• Alistair Carmichael, Orkney and Shetland
• Edward Davey, Kingston and Surbiton
• Tim Farron, Westmorland and Lonsdale
• Wera Hobhouse, Bath
• Christine Jardine, Edinburgh West
• Norman Lamb, North Norfolk
• Stephen Lloyd, Eastbourne
• Layla Moran, Oxford West and Abingdon
• Jamie Stone, Caithness
• Jo Swinson, Dunbartonshire East