Groups and MSPs demand changes to welfare system punishing most vulnerable

Anti-poverty campaigners and MPs across Scotland have come together to call on the UK government to end the freeze on benefits ahead of tomorrow’s budget.

The halt was announced in the 2015 summer budget and means benefits will not be subject to uprating until 2020, and will remain the same cash value as in 2015/16.

MPs from the SNP, Scottish Labour and the Liberal Democrats oppose the freeze, and in October 47 Scottish civil society organisations joined forces to call on the chancellor to end the punitive measure in the upcoming budget.

Research from Sheffield Hallam estimates that the freeze in working-age benefits will lead to losses of £300 million in Scotland per year. It is expected that this will affect 700,000 families in Scotland, with an average loss of £450 per year.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has estimated that almost half a million more people across the UK will be in poverty by 2020 as a result of the move.

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “It has become increasingly apparent in recent months that the freeze to benefits is impossible to justify either on the basis of efficiency or effectiveness.

“If the UK government is genuinely interested in helping those who are ‘just about managing’ then this harmful policy must end.”

Danielle Rowley, Labour MP for Midlothian, said the government has the option of ending its “harmful freeze” at this year’s budget and in doing so it could stop the number of people living in poverty in Scotland increasing this year.

She added: “With a £10 minimum wage, ending the benefits freeze and investing in Scotland through a National Investment Bank to create good quality jobs we can reverse the destruction caused by the Tories”.

Chris Stephens, SNP MP for Glasgow South, said: “Continued austerity is hitting the least wealthy the hardest, with local voluntary groups and food banks expected to pick up the pieces.

“It’s time for a fairer social security system that protects and supports those who need our help, rather than punishing people for being poor."

Those most in need were being hit the hardest according to Christine Jardine, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West.

“Even in a relatively comfortable constituency like Edinburgh West I regularly see constituents who are having their lives blighted by the system,” she said,

“With prices rising at 3% and likely to get worse the closer we get to the Brexit cliff, its time the Tories wakened up to the hardship caused by a benefits freeze.”

Meanwhile the Church of Scotland has urged Philip Hammond to rethink Tory welfare reforms and promote greener policies in tomorrow’s budget.

In a letter to the chancellor, the Kirk called for an end to the benefits freeze, a halt to Universal Credit, more generous funeral benefits and more investment in renewables.

Rev Dr Richard Frazer, Convener of the Kirk’s Church and Society Council, said the church was raising concerns because it had a “responsibility for our neighbour and for our planet."

He said: "As a Church, we believe in the creation of a fairer, a more equal and a more just society. We urge you to reflect on this...in your consideration of the Autumn Budget and the decisions that will be taken."