Chancellor could have provided a lifeline for many

With soaring energy bills and a cost of living crisis facing us all, the UK Chancellor had the opportunity to use this week’s Spring Statement to provide lifeline support for those hardest hit.

Rishi Sunak could – and should - have taken urgent action to reduce household energy bills and uprate benefits.

The few changes he did make will totally fail to tackle the poverty pandemic we face and leading poverty charities and think tanks have criticised the spring budget as“woefully out of touch”,“deeply disappointing”and“a drop in the ocean”.

The Scottish Government is doing what it can within the limited powers and fixed budget available to it including doubling the Scottish Child Payment from £10 per week per eligible child to £20 next month.

The UK Government could – and should - have followed that lead and matched the six per cent uprate on social security benefits which the Scottish Government is adding to eight of the benefits it delivers.

The Scottish Government is also providing a further

£10 million to continue the Fuel Insecurity Fund into 2022-23, a fund which supports people struggling with their energy bills.

Most powers relating to the energy markets, however, remain reserved and Scottish Ministers have repeatedly called for the UK Government to take further action to support households - including a reduction in VAT on household energy bills and support for those on low incomes.

Choices were there for the Chancellor but they weren’t taken.

The Chancellors statement failed.

It failed to do anything to reduce energy bills. It failed to reverse the £1040 Tory cuts to Universal Credit.

It failed to follow Scotland in uprating benefits by six per cent. It failed to match the Scottish Child Payment UK-wide.

It failed to reverse the real-terms cut to pensions. It failed to scrap the National Insurance tax hike.

It failed to introduce a Real Living Wage. It failed to raise sick pay.

It failed to lift the benefits cap. It failed to turn the £200 energy loan into a grant.

The UK is failing Scotland. And, sadly, the failure of the UK knows no borders.

The response and resilience of the Ukrainian people and their president Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been truly inspiring.

And people across Europe have responded.

But, while other countries have waived visa requirements, opening their borders as well as their hearts, the UK Government has resolutely refused to do the same.

Despite what the Prime Minister seems to think, the only connection between Brexit and the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people is that Brexit paperwork has held up attempts to get donated supplies to the refugees.

But people in this country are determined to help, regardless, and the response has been tremendous.

I want to pay particular tribute to Perth’s Steve Carr and the charity he heads up, Dnipro Kids.

It was absolutely wonderful to see – after holdups and uncertainty – their group of over 50 orphan children arriving in Scotland.

Scotland’s offer to provide refuge and sanctuary to displaced Ukrainians is now open.

Accessible through an online Homes for Ukraine portal, a distinct route to accommodation, support and care in Scotland - the Warm Scots Welcome - is now available to people displaced by the invasion of Ukraine.

Acting as a‘super sponsor’ to short circuit UK red-tape, the Scottish Government’s route removes the need for applicants to be matched to a named individual before they are cleared to travel to the UK through the visa system.