Call for rethink on uplift payment cut
New figures have revealed that the UK Government’s plan to remove the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit in April would hit over 30,000 people in North Lanarkshire.
Anti-poverty think-tank, the Resolution Foundation, estimates that the cut to Universal Credit by £20 a week could see the incomes of low-income families fall by more than four per cent and plunge a further 820,000 children into poverty across the UK.
Shotts MSP Alex Neil has called for a re-think to the plans.
He said:“By slashing social security payments by £1000 a year, in the middle of an economic and health crisis, the Tories could push 33,766 people here in North Lanarkshire further into hardship and poverty.
“The SNP government at Holyrood has led the way in tackling poverty, with new benefits like the Scottish Child Payment and a social security system based on dignity and respect, yet this progress is being severely undermined by Tory cuts.
“It is crucial that the £20 uplift to Universal Credit is made permanent and extended to legacy benefits, as part of a wider package to boost incomes after a decade of damaging Tory austerity cuts.
“Scotland shouldn’t have to wait for Westminster to act to protect the incomes of the most vulnerable in our society. The only way to secure a strong, fair and equal recovery is for Scotland to become an independent country – with the full powers needed to build a fairer society.”
Earlier this month, six Tory MPs defied party orders to abstain and voted with the opposition, adding to the pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the issue.
The PM said the UK Government had provided £280 billion worth of support during the pandemic but all measures would be kept under“constant review”.
One in four children in Motherwell and Wishaw lives in poverty.
These shocking figures, released by the End Child Poverty coalition, show that 4821 kids in the Motherwell and Wishaw UK parliamentary constituency are living in poverty at the moment – that’s 27.7 per cent of kids.
Speaking on behalf of members of End Child Poverty in Scotland, John Dickie, said: “The Prime Minister must urgently face up to the true extent of child poverty across the UK rather than resorting to his own inaccurate statistics.
“An ambitious plan to put this shameful situation right would be transformational for millions of children in Scotland and across the UK.”
Mr Dickie also called for more action from government in Scotland.
He added: “Here in Scotland the Holyrood government’s child poverty delivery plan and prioritisation of the new Scottish child payment are hugely welcome.
“But these new figures highlight the importance of keeping housing costs affordable, the importance of reviewing the value of the Scottish child payment and the urgent need to use existing payment mechanisms, like local authority school clothing grants, to provide extra financial support to families right now.”
In response to Mr Dickie’s comments, Wishaw MP Marion Fellows defended the Scottish Government but hit out at Westminster’s benefits schemes.
She said: “No child should be living in poverty.
No child should be living