Benefit cuts show welfare state is not safe in Labour Government hands

Daily Record

7 hours ago

When Keir Starmer became Prime Minister a year ago this week, we were all looking forward to seeing the back of the some of the worst Tory policies.
There had been years of attacks on the welfare state and some of the most vulnerable people in our society – whether that was the humiliating assessment processes, the bedroom tax, the two-child cap, the rape clause and much more besides.
Twelve months on, people are entitled to wonder exactly what has changed.
Following Labour's winter fuel payment debacle – which has caused so much anguish and distress for millions of older people - this week MPs will vote on the UK government's disability cuts bill.
This is a bill straight out of the Iain Duncan Smith playbook - a classic case of pretending to help people while actually causing them significant harm.
Despite what Labour are claiming, this is not about getting people into work. Disability payments are designed to support people with the extra living costs they face as a result of their disability or their long-term condition – regardless of whether they are in employment.
Nor will this ultimately save the public purse money. Restricting living support for people may actually make it harder for them to get into sustainable employment – and increase the pressure on public services, like the NHS.
What these cuts will actually do – as many charities and independent experts are warning – is push tens of thousands more people, including thousands of children, into poverty.
Following an outcry from his backbenchers, the Prime Minister announced watered down plans last week – but this panicked half u-turn has actually made the cuts even more unjustifiable.
Making the cuts apply to new claimants will create a two-tier system, where new claimants get less than existing ones for the same conditions. That is completely unfair.
Despite many senior Labour figures such as Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham, and the Welsh Labour government finding their voice on these cuts, Labour's Leader in Scotland Anas Sarwar has stood beside Keir Starmer all the way.
The SNP government will not cut Scotland's Adult Disability Payment and we will reject the UK government's attack on disabled people's rights.
SNP MPs will this week vote against Labour's welfare bill – and we are calling on all MPs to do likewise.
Fundamentally, issues like this speak to our values as a society.
None of us know what will happen to us in our lives – any one of us could require financial help because of a disability or illness.
I want people in such a situation to know that they are valued, and that there is a safety net there for them – not to be treate d as some kind of fiscal inconvenience.
But it's clear that whether it's Labour or Tories in power, the welfare state is not in safe hands at Westminster.
CHILD POVERTY
The Big Issue magazine's latest report into child poverty across the UK makes for sobering reading.
It found that since the SNP Government introduced child poverty reduction targets in 2017, the number of children in relative poverty in Scotland has fallen by 12%. That is around 21,000 fewer children. In stark contrast, numbers in England and Wales have grown by an astonishing 320,000 over the same period.
The SNP Government is putting our money where our mouth is. Scotland is the only part of the UK with a child payment for families on low incomes, and we are the only part of the UK getting rid of the two child cap. That's on top of the work we're doing to expand free school meal provision and access to childcare for working families.
But there is so much more to do. Eradicating child poverty is a personal priority for me. It is not only morally the right thing to do, but I also believe that there is no greater long-term investment that we can make in Scotland's future success than by ensuring every young person has the opportunity to thrive.
FREE SCHOOL MEALS
it was great to visit Springburn Academy last week to unveil the SNP Government's latest expansion to free school meals provision. We know the positive impact that a nutritious meal can have on learning and achievement, and I'm pleased that, from August, an additional 6,000 pupils in S1-S3 across Scotland will benefit from healthy lunches.