After 10-year decline

Johnson over the figures on the day he visited Scotland for the first time as Prime Minister.

He said: “On the same day that old Etonian Johnson visits Scotland, this is a reminder of what the Tories have done in power.

“They are the party of the few, not the many – and their callous austerity agenda over the past nine years has caused nothing, but misery for people across Scotland and the UK.

“Scotland needs radical change, and Labour governments at Holyrood and Westminster that will raise the minimum wage, invest in vital public services and raise the standard of living so that the scandal of poverty is eradicated from our society.” Overall there are 14.3 million people in poverty in Britain, including 8.3 million working-age adults, 4.6 million children and 1.3 million pension-age adults, the report said.

Seven million people, including 2.3 million children, are classed as in persistent poverty, defined as being in poverty for at least two of the previous three years.

Nearly half (48 per cent) of people in poverty, totalling 6.8 million, live in a family where someone is disabled.

The poverty line in the UK is defined by one common measure as those earning 60 per cent of the median income, but the SMC uses a different poverty threshold it defines as being people living below 54 per cent of the median of what it calls total resources available, including income, assets and costs such as housing and childcare.

The SMC said its findings highlight the scale of the challenge facing Mr Johnson in tackling poverty across Britain.

SMC chairwoman Philippa Stroud said: “It is concerning that overall poverty has remained at almost the same level since the early 2000s, under governments of all colours.

“But it is also clear that beneath the surface there are significant differences in the experience of poverty among different groups of people.”