The human rights charity produced a new report warning of the growing damage being done to those on benefits.
A leading human rights charity has published a new report which brands the UK’s social security system “consciously cruel”.
Amnesty International UK published 'Social Insecurity: The devastating human rights impact of social security system failures in the UK' this week.
The charity said the report shows: “Austerity didn’t end. It got rebranded.”
Amnesty spoke to hundreds of benefits claimants in producing the report, including dozens in Scotland. As well as this, they spoke to benefits advisors in Scotland and across the UK.
Neil Cowan, the Scotland director for Amnesty International UK, told the National: “Lives are being ruined by a system that is consciously cruel – it erodes dignity by design and violates people’s human rights daily.”
A number of recommendations have been put forward in the paper, including the establishment of an independent Social Security Commission to deliver a “systems overhaul”.
Amnesty also said the UK Government must “urgently reverse harmful social security cuts, sanctions and caps”, including the two-child limit on some benefits.
Human rights and legal frameworks must also be overhauled, as well as ensuring the Department of Work and Pensions addressing “harmful policy measures”.
The charity said: “Successive governments have failed to protect basic rights. Instead of dealing with what’s driving poverty and soaring living costs, this government is choosing to make cuts. It’s doing that by framing people who are disabled, ill, and unemployed as a ‘burden’. That narrative isn’t new, but it’s still working. Blame is being shifted onto the people most in need, while those in power avoid responsibility.
“Amnesty UK has been investigating how cuts, sanctions and systemic failings of the social security system are pushing people deeper into poverty. Our new report, Social Insecurity, shows the UK is breaching its human rights obligations, and it’s time for change.”
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told The National newspaper: “The irresponsible and damaging welfare cuts, upon which the UK Government is utterly intent, aim to balance the books by targeting the most vulnerable.
“These changes are being rushed through without proper public consultation. Although UK ministers say they want to reduce child poverty, their own analysis estimates that the cuts announced in the Spring Statement will push a further 50,000 children into poverty.
“In Scotland, we have deliberately built a radically different system to tackle the worst impacts of UK Government cuts, based on dignity, fairness and respect.
“Our policies are having to work harder than ever to make a difference, against a backdrop of UK Government decision making.
“I am calling on the UK Government to abandon its rushed and harmful reforms.
“It is not too late for them to change course, and follow the Scottish Government’s lead in protecting and enhancing the social security safety net rather than wantonly dismantling it and stigmatising those who need its support.”
A UK Government spokesperson also told the newspaper: “We inherited a fundamentally broken welfare system which does not work for the people it is supposed to support.
“That’s why, as we secure Britain’s future through our Plan for Change, our reforms to health and disability benefits will ensure the welfare system is there to protect those who need it most.
“We are also unlocking opportunities for sick and disabled people through our £1bn employment support package, and we’ve also increased the Living Wage, boosted benefits, and extended the Household Support Fund for another year to help low-incomes families with the cost of essentials, as well as protecting pensioners through our commitment to the triple lock.”
