Benefits cap must end, says Corbyn
● Labour leader says SNP has power to mitigate ‘cruel’ policy
The “cruel” two-child benefits cap must be brought to an end in Scotland, Jeremy Corbyn has said.
Speaking in Edinburgh yesterday at a Christmas lunch attended by people who have experienced poverty, the Labour Party leader described the cap as “inhumane” and said much more must be done to tackle deprivation.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the issue “is not a lack of political will, it’s a fact of basic arithmetic” as Scotland’s budget is already stretched.
“A Labour government in Westminster will redesign social security, but the Scottish Government has the power to make a difference right now”
JEREMY CORBYN
The “cruel” two-child benefits cap must be brought to an end in Scotland, Jeremy Corbyn has said.
Speaking in Edinburgh yesterday at a Christmas lunch attended by people who have experienced poverty, Labour’s Westminster leader described the cap as “inhumane” and said that much more must be done to tackle the issue of deprivation in the country.
The cap was introduced by the UK government in 2017 and limits tax credits and Universal Credit to a family’s first two children.
Mr Corbyn said: “The twochild cap is inhumane across the whole of the UK and Scotland has the power to lift it.
“It penalises larger families and also, what’s the message to third, fourth and fifth children in large families, do they matter less than the first and second child? I say this with some feeling as I was the fourth of four children.
“A Labour government in Westminster will completely redesign social security, but the Scottish Government has the power to make a difference to people’s lives right now.
“The SNP need to stop enforcing this Tory policy, end the cruelty, and protect families in Scotland from the two-child cap.”
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard raised the issue
at First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood on Thursday.
Mr Leonard said that the cost of scrapping the policy in Scotland would represent 0.2 per cent (£69 million) of the budget announced by Finance Secretary Derek Mackay last Wednesday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon responded by stating that it would not be affordable to lift the cap.
She said: “This government does everything it can to mitigate UK welfare cuts. We’re spending in the region of
£100m every year to do that The fact that we cannot mitigate every cut is not a lack of political will, it’s a fact of basic arithmetic.
“We don’t hold the budget for reserved areas of welfare so every penny of mitigation has to come from another area of our responsibilities.
“We’ve used our tax powers and we’ve allocated all of the resources at our disposal.”
The Scottish Government, as a minority government, must seek cross-party support if its budget is to pass. A deal was
agreed with the Greens last year, however the party has refused to commit its support if more funding for local government is not provided.
Richard Leonard insisted the SNP will not receive support for its budget unless major changes are made to address the issue of child poverty.
“I was told by Nicola Sturgeon it’s a question of arithmetic, I think it’s a question of politics and priorities,” said Mr Leonard.