Day: June 10, 2025

‘Cruel Cuts’: Trussell urges UK government to think again

15,000 people in disabled households in Scotland will be forced into severe hardship if the UK government goes ahead with cuts to social security, warns Trussell

  • New report reveals hundreds of thousands of people will be pushed into severe hardship if government goes ahead with ‘cruel’ cuts to disability payments
  • 15,000 more people in disabled households will be at risk of needing to use a food bank

New analysis from anti-poverty charity Trussell has found that 15,000 people in disabled households across Scotland will be forced into severe hardship and at risk of needing a food bank in 2029/30, if the UK government goes ahead with planned cuts to social security.

The report – produced by economic and public policy experts WPI Economics for Trussell – models the projected impact of proposed changes to social security for disabled people on the number of people facing hunger and hardship in Scotland, a measure of deep poverty which captures people at risk of needing to use a food bank now or in the future.

This new analysis comes just weeks after it was revealed that almost 240,000 emergency food parcels were distributed by the Trussell community across Scotland during the past year. This is equivalent to one parcel every two minutes and a 101% increase compared to a decade ago.

Across the UK, it is projected that 440,000 people in disabled households will be forced into severe hardship. It also shows that the UK government’s planned increase to the basic rate of Universal Credit will move 95,000 people out of severe hardship – which Trussell says is clear evidence this welcome step cannot possibly make up for the sheer scale of the damage of cuts. The net impact of reforms will still be around 340,000 more people in disabled households facing hunger and hardship.

Trussell warns that UK government’s proposed £7 billion cuts to support for disabled people are likely to undermine its goal of increasing employment and will drive higher costs for public services.

Trussell and WPI Economics have shown that even before these cuts, the ongoing failure to tackle hunger and hardship leads to the Scottish government spending an additional £860m a year on public services alone, like the NHS, schools and children’s social care.

As MPs prepare to vote on legislation to introduce the cuts, Trussell is urging the UK government to think again and halt these damaging cuts to support for disabled people. They will be condemning hundreds of thousands of people to severe hardship and piling the pressure on food banks across the country, which are already stretched to breaking point.

As well as axing the proposed cuts, Trussell is calling on the UK government to bring forward the planned increase to the basic rate of Universal Credit so it comes into full effect from April 2026, rather than April 2029.

Cara Hilton, senior policy manager for Scotland at Trussell, said: “This UK government was elected on a promise of change, and with a commitment to end the need for food banks. If the government goes ahead with these ill-considered and cruel cuts to social security, this promise will not be kept – and instead, they will risk leaving behind a legacy of rising poverty and hunger.

“Tackling fiscal challenges should not be done at the expense of people already facing hunger and hardship. These cuts will force 440,000 people in disabled households into severe hardship and leave them at risk of needing a food bank. We urge the government not to continue down this damaging path.

“We support the plan to reform employment support and help more people into work, where their health allows this and accessible jobs are available, but these proposed cuts will utterly undermine this goal. Slashing support will damage people’s health and reduce their ability to engage in training and work.”

Craig Crosthwaite, manager at North Ayrshire Foodbank, said: “Most days we see people coming to the food bank who have a disability or are caring for someone with a disability in their household.

“Social security payments do not allow people to afford the essentials, and this is amplified when you are also dealing with the extra costs of managing a disability. Life simply costs more for disabled people.  We fear that should these cuts be forced through Parliament, we will see many more people being forced to access our help.”

You can find out how many emergency food parcels were distributed in your area, and write to your MP to express your concerns at these cruel cuts, on the Trussell website: https://campaign.trussell.org.uk/parcels-by-postcode

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Thousands of jobs to be created as Government announces multi-billion-pound investment to build Sizewell C

‘GOLDEN AGE OF CLEAN ENERGY ABUNDANCE’ – ED MILIBAND

  • 10,000 jobs, including 1,500 apprenticeships, to be created as the Government announces multi-billion investment to build Sizewell C.
  • Chancellor to confirm funding at the GMB Congress ahead of Spending Review, as Energy Secretary vows ‘golden age’ of nuclear.
  • Investment to deliver clean power to millions of homes, cut energy bills and boost energy security.
  • Government commits over £6 billion of investment to nuclear submarine industrial base to deliver on Strategic Defence Review

Ten thousand jobs will be created as the Government announces a £14.2 billion investment to build Sizewell C nuclear plant as part of the Spending Review, ending years of delay and uncertainty. 

The Chancellor is set to confirm the funding at the GMB Congress later today ahead of the Government’s Spending Review, as the Energy Secretary vows a ‘golden age’ of nuclear to boost the UK’s energy security. 

The Government’s investment will go towards creating 10,000 jobs, including 1,500 apprenticeships, and support thousands more jobs across the UK. 

The company has already signed £330 million in contracts with local companies and will boost supply chains across the UK with 70% of contracts predicted to go to 3,500 British suppliers – supporting new jobs in construction, welding, and hospitality.  

 

The equivalent of around six million of today’s homes will be powered with clean homegrown energy from Sizewell C. The investment in clean, homegrown power brings to an end decades of dithering and delay, with the Government backing the builders in the drive for energy security and kick-starting economic growth.  

The announcement comes as the Government is set to confirm one of Europe’s first Small Modular Reactor programmes. This comes alongside record investment in R&D for fusion energy, worth over £2.5 billion over five years. Taken together with Sizewell C, this delivers the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation.

Clean, home-grown power at Sizewell C will help drive the UK’s energy security, as part of the Government’s mission to protect family finances by replacing the UK’s dependency on fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators with homegrown power that we control.  

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:  “Today we are once again investing in Britian’s renewal, with the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation. This landmark decision is our Plan for Change in action.  

“We are creating thousands of jobs, kickstarting economic growth and putting more money people’s pockets.” 

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:  “We will not accept the status quo of failing to invest in the future and energy insecurity for our country.  

“We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis. 

“This is the Government’s clean energy mission in action – investing in lower bills and good jobs for energy security.”  

Sizewell C  

Sizewell C will provide 10,000 people with employment at peak construction and support thousands more jobs across the UK, including 1,500 apprenticeships.

The company has already signed £330 million in contracts with local companies and will boost supply chains across the UK with 70% of contracts predicted to go to 3,500 British suppliers – supporting new jobs in construction, welding, and hospitality. Jobs in the nuclear industry pay well above national averages and the government is committed to working with nuclear trade unions such as the GMB, Unite, and Prospect, who will continue to play a pivotal role in building the industry.   

Despite the UK’s strong nuclear legacy, opening the world’s first commercial nuclear power station in the 1950s, no new nuclear plant has opened in the UK since 1995, with all of the existing fleet except Sizewell B likely to be phased out by the early 2030s.  

Sizewell C was one of eight sites identified in 2009 by then-Energy Secretary Ed Miliband as a potential site for new nuclear. However, the project was not fully funded in the 14 years that followed under subsequent Governments.  

The Government’s nuclear programme is now the most ambitious for a generation – once small modular reactors and Sizewell C come online in the 2030s, combined with Hinkley Point C, this will deliver more new nuclear to grid than over the previous half century combined. 

Small Modular Reactors  

Great British Nuclear is expected to announce the outcome of its small modular reactor competition imminently, the first step towards the goal of driving down costs and unlocking private finance with a long-term ambition to bring forward one of the first SMR fleets in Europe.  

The government’s nuclear resurgence will support the UK’s long-term energy security, with small modular reactors expected to power millions of homes with clean energy and help fuel power-hungry industries like AI data centres.   

This follows reforms to planning rules announced by the Prime Minister in February 2025 to make it easier to build nuclear across the country – changing the rules to back the builders of this nation, and saying no to the blockers who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long.   

The government is also looking to provide a route for private sector-led advanced nuclear projects to be deployed in the UK, alongside investing £300m in developing the world’s first non-Russian supply of the advanced fuels needed to run them.   

Companies will be able to work with the government to continue their development with potential investment from the National Wealth Fund.

Fusion Energy  

The government is also making a record investment in R&D for fusion energy, investing over £2.5 billion over 5 years. This includes progressing the STEP programme (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), the world-leading fusion plant in Nottinghamshire, creating thousands of new jobs and with the potential to unlock limitless clean power.  

This builds on the UK’s global leadership to turbocharge economic growth in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, while helping deliver the UK’s flagship programme to design and build a prototype fusion power station on the site of a former coal-fired plant.   

Defence 

To secure the UK as a leader in both civil and defence nuclear, the government is also making continued long-term investment in our Defence Nuclear Enterprise and its industrial base, which is critical for our national security while also being a significant generator of economic opportunities, jobs and growth across the entire country.

Further investments in the defence nuclear sector include over £6bn over the SR period to enable a transformation in the capacity, capability and productivity of the UK’s submarine industrial base, including at BAE Systems in Barrow and Rolls-Royce Submarines in Derby – to deliver the increase in the submarine production rate announced in the Strategic Defence Review. 

In addition, we will embark on a multi-decade, multi-billion redevelopment of HMNB Clyde, with an initial £250m of funding over 3 years, supporting jobs, skills and growth across the West of Scotland. 

The government will also invest over £420m of additional funding in Sheffield Forgemasters, securing 700 existing skilled jobs and creating over 900 new construction roles.