Right choice now can change lives

WE ARE at a cliff edge. The statistics and forecasts tell us that with cuts and changes to benefits, things will get worse.

First-hand evidence from families living on the brink of poverty tells us that the grinding wheel of Universal Credit is leaving them high and dry, with no money for weeks.

The greatest unsung achievement of the last Labour government was that they lifted close on one million children out of poverty.

Regardless of anything else attributed to or detracted from Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, that should stand as their legacy.

As usual, there are choices to be made. The Chancellor can lift the freeze on benefits and lift people’s heads above the water.

Theresa May’s Government can pause the roll-out of Universal Credit until the system is seen to operate properly and not result in people being plunged into poverty.

In Scotland, the SNP Government can put their money where their mouth is and use the tax and welfare powers delivered under The Vow to cushion the effects of Tory cuts.

Increasing child benefit by £240 a year by 2021 would lift 30,000 children out of poverty in Scotland.

Changing the rates of tax, as proposed by Anas Sarwar last week, would produce even more radical results.

Politicians can make choices – and few decisions can be more important than improving the life chances of the poorest people.