Westminster can’t be trusted to tackle poverty, the SNP has said after new research revealed those on the lowest incomes would need to double their incomes to escape poverty.
A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found the poverty gap, the amount of money needed to bring the incomes of people in poverty to the poverty line, has nearly doubled since the mid-90s, with a couple with two children under-14 in poverty now needing an additional £6,200 per year to reach the poverty line, with families in very deep poverty needing £12,800 to reach the poverty line.
The report also highlights Scotland's “much lower” child poverty rate of 24% – compared to 31% in England and 28% in Wales – attributing this to “at least in part” the Scottish Child Payment, which provides low-income families with £25 a week for each child.
SNP MPs have slammed Westminster for refusing to follow in the footsteps of the SNP Scottish Government in implementing policies like the Scottish Child Payment, and attacked the Tories for driving poverty rates to massive levels through their over decade-long austerity regime and damaging Brexit.
Commenting, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Natalie Don, said:
“Westminster cannot be trusted to take meaningful action to tackle this growing issue, with fourteen years of Tory austerity leading to almost Dickensian levels of extreme poverty in the UK.
“At every opportunity, the UK Tory government has doubled down on their punitive policies and ignored every suggestion that could lift households out of poverty, including SNP calls to replicate the Scottish Child Payment across the UK, introduce an energy social tariff for vulnerable households and bring back the £400 energy rebate and implement a Real Living Wage.
“The SNP Scottish Government’s game-changing £25 a week Scottish Child Payment has been instrumental in lowering rates of child poverty within Scotland, and it would make a huge difference to poverty levels in the UK if the Westminster government matched this policy.
“The Scottish Government is also spending around £83.7 million to protect households in Scotland from the Tories’ cruel bedroom tax and housing benefit cap, which could be much better spent on further efforts to tackle poverty.
“The SNP will continue to lead the way on calling on not only the Tories, but also Labour, to scrap these abhorrent policies.
“For years, we have seen that with every step forward we take in Scotland, the Westminster drags us back two. It’s impossible for the Scottish Government to fully eradicate poverty in Scotland when it has one hand tied behind its back, with a cloud of Tory austerity and Brexit lingering over us.
“Only the SNP will stand up for Scotland.”