Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish Government remained committed to incorporating the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into domestic law to the maximum extent possible – despite a UK Supreme Court ruling.
The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was backed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament in March, but could not be implemented because of a legal challenge brought by UK Government law officers.
The Supreme Court has now ruled that certain parts of the Bill fall outwith the competence of the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Swinney said the ruling exposes the limitations in the devolution settlement, but he pledged that protections in the Bill will go ahead.
The Deputy First Minister added: “While we fully respect the court’s judgment and will abide by the ruling, we cannot help but be bitterly disappointed. It makes plain that we are constitutionally prohibited from enacting legislation that the Scottish Parliament unanimously decided was necessary to enshrine and fully protect the rights of our children.
“The judgment exposes the devolution settlement as even more limited than we all – indeed the Scottish Parliament itself - had understood. It sets out new constraints on the ability of our elected Scottish Parliament to legislate to protect children’s rights in the way it determines.
“There is no doubt that the implications of this judgment are significant from a children’s rights perspective. This Bill will not now become law in the form which our Parliament agreed, but we remain committed to the incorporation of the UNCRC to the maximum extent possible as soon as practicable. Whilst the judgment means that the Bill cannot receive Royal Assent in its current form, the majority of work in relation to implementation of the UNCRC can and is continuing.
“The UNCRC is the most widely ratified international treaty, but very few countries have committed to take the journey that Scotland so clearly wants to take. To everyone who has walked with us this far on that journey, encouraging us along the way, I want to reassure you that we will reach our destination. This Government remains committed to the incorporation of the UNCRC to the maximum extent possible.
“There is no doubt that we may not yet wholly comprehend all the implications from this judgement – it will require careful consideration and I will keep Parliament updated.”
Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland Bruce Adamson said: “Scotland is committed to protecting the rights of children and young people.
“The Scottish Parliament was unanimous in its support for this law which would ensure that decisions are taken in children’s best interest; that children have a say in decision making; and that all available resources are used to the maximum extent possible to fulfil rights like education, health, and an adequate standard of living – and that there is accountability when things go wrong.
“The last 18 months have shown just how urgent it is to strengthen rights protections for children. We will work with the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament in its role as a Human Rights Guarantor to get this done as soon as possible.”
The Supreme Court also ruled that certain provisions in the European Charter of Local Self-Government (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill are outwith the competence of the Scottish Parliament.
The Bill, which is intended to further strengthen the relationship between the Scottish Government and local government, started as a Member’s Bill and was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament in March 2021.
Edinburgh Pentlands MSP Gordon MacDonald has said being under Westminster control is threatening the rights of children across Edinburgh and only independence can ensure we protect everyone in Scotland from the Tories.
After a legal challenge by the Westminster Tory Government the UK Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish Parliament could not enshrine the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law, a bill that was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament. The judgement laid bare the limitations of the devolution settlement in Scotland.
On the same day, the Tories at Westminster cut Universal Credit by £20 a week, taking away from the most vulnerable at a time when they need it most.
Gordon MacDonald said: “The SNP Scottish Government introduced the UNCRC Bill to put the needs of children in Edinburgh and across Scotland at the very heart of every decision made by Government and local authorities.
“However, those noble intentions have been scuppered by the Westminster Tories challenge. The court judgment lays bare the limits placed on the Scottish Parliament and within the devolution settlement that we cannot introduce vital protections for our young people – leaving them at the mercy of a callous Tory UK government.
“We cannot trust the Tories to protect future generations in Scotland as they cut Universal Credit this week and plunge 20,000 children into poverty.
“Families across the city will face a decision of whether to heat their homes or feed their children as the cost of living skyrockets with energy bills increasing and food bills going up.
“The only way we can ensure we protect the future of Scotland from an uncaring Tory UK government is with the full powers of independence.”
The Scottish Conservatives reckon the SNP is playing political games.Sharon Dowey MSP said: It’s incredibly disappointing that the SNP think playing nationalist games with children’s rights is ok.
“Their portrayal of the Supreme Court judgement is not just petty, it’s detracting from a serious issue that affects kids up and down the country.”
This morning, around 5.5 million families across the United Kingdom are waking up £1,040-a-year worse off due to the Prime Minister imposing the biggest ever overnight cut to social security.
Despite fierce opposition from across the political spectrum, his government has pressed ahead with this controversial cut which will cause immense, immediate and avoidable hardship.
As the cut comes into effect today, the Prime Minister must face the five most serious consequences of his cut:
Half a million more people pulled into poverty, including 200,000 children.
Makes social security wholly inadequate by reducing the main rate of out-of-work support to its lowest level in real terms since around 1990 and its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings.
Around 20% of all working-age families across the UK have lost £1,040 a year. 6 in 10 single parent families will be affected by this cut.
1.7 million people who will experience this cut to Universal Credit are unable to work – due to caring for others, disability, or illness – a promise of higher wages will do nothing to help them.
The cut takes £6 billion of spending power out of local economies. The cut has the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West and West Midlands, although no region will be left unscathed.
Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“Today the Prime Minister has imposed the biggest ever overnight cut to social security. It makes a mockery of his mission to level up.
“Despite overwhelming opposition, he is ploughing ahead with a cut which fundamentally undermines the adequacy of our vital social security system as we face a cost-of-living crisis. This is not building back better, it’s repeating the same mistakes made after the last financial crisis.
“The Government says a key test of levelling up is improving living standards, yet they have just made around 5.5 million low-income families £1,040 a year worse off. People’s bills won’t get £87-a-month cheaper from today, in fact they are going up. Ministers’ arguments in recent days beg the question: has the party that created Universal Credit forgotten the purpose of the system?
“The Prime Minister is abandoning millions to hunger and hardship with his eyes wide open. Low-income families urgently need him to reinstate this vital lifeline.”
Participants in the Covid Realities project responding to the Prime Minister’s comments on the eve of the cut:
“My husband has been in his job for 25 years +, he hasn’t received a pay rise in 5 years and has recently been told there’s no way he will get one anytime soon.
So I’m sorry but there’s no fix there for us. Once again the only option is to struggle and I’m tired of it.” – Emma, England, Covid Realities
“He has no idea how tough it is and how hard people are working to make ends meet!
It is sickness inducing that he completely misses the point that families will either be cold or hungry due to this cut.” – Kim, Wales, Covid Realities
“Fuel and food is on the increase and … families on a low income cannot afford to absorb these costs.
“It is short-sighted to not think of the long term costs involved when already impoverished working families cannot sustain themselves.” – Aurora, England, Covid Realities
“So our prime minister has said he knows it is tough for people on low incomes, does he honestly? … How as parents can we support our children when we are going without food, hungry and unable to concentrate and even sleep at night with worry and stress, do you really understand?
… I would invite any MP to come and actually experience the day to day drain of living on low income and the impact that has on our mental and physical wellbeing.” – Caroline, Northern Ireland, Covid Realities
Political consequences:
413 parliamentary constituencies across Great Britain will see over a third of working-age families with children hit by the planned £1,040-a-year cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
Of these 413 constituencies, 191 are Conservative – 53 of which were newly won at the last general election or in a subsequent by-election.
In 35 local authorities across Great Britain, 50% or more of working-age families with children will be impacted by the planned cut.
“THE NASTY PARTY IS WELL AND TRULY BACK”
Edinburgh Pentlands SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has condemned the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit, which comes into force today. The First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister of Northern Ireland have also condemned the measure.
The previous week, the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelming to support cancelling the Tory UK Government’s planned £20 a week cut to Universal Credit.
Gordon MacDonald also raised the matter with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, Shona Robison seeking information on what representations the Scottish Government has made to the UK Government.
Ms Robison confirmed that the Scottish Government had written to the UK Government on eight separate occasions since March 2020 to ask it to retain the much-needed £20 uplift. In addition on 30 August, Ms Robison joined colleagues from Wales and Northern Ireland to write to the UK Government to urge it to retain the uplift. They are yet to receive a response.
SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald for Edinburgh Pentlands said: “The Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly spoke and demanded the Tory UK Government halts their plans to scrap the uplift to Universal Credit.
“Sadly, we also witnessed every single Tory MSP failing to stand up to their Westminster bosses in opposing the £20 a week cut – the biggest welfare cut since the 1930s at the worst possible time. Even former Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson and six former Tory DWP Secretary of States, opposed the cut.
“I am standing up for the 32,022 households impacted across Edinburgh, but the Tory Government at Westminster has now implemented their plans that will rip more than £1,000 a year out of the hands of the most vulnerable at a time when they need it most.
“I am quite frankly shocked, but not surprised, that the Scottish Tory MSPs not only voted to back the Universal Credit cut which will condemn thousands of families to poverty, but actively defended it – the Nasty Party is well and truly back.
“History will remember them for this – Scottish Tory MSPs are letting down thousands of families and children with this callous cut in favour of propping up their Tory chums in the UK Government who are imposing these policies on the people of Scotland.
“This demonstrates once again how the people of Scotland cannot afford to continue to suffer under Westminster control. We need to have the option of choosing a different path in a referendum which can give us the full powers of independence where we can build a fairer Scotland.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak made the keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester yesterday. On the week the Tories will cut the £20 Universal Credit lifeline, the Chancellor told the conference:
Whatever it takes.
That phrase, and those press conferences, were my introduction to so many of you as Chancellor.
It was daunting to face such a challenge in my first days in office. And what it also meant is that more than a year has gone by before I had the chance to meet you all properly. And that is why these last few days have been such a joy. Meeting you all face to face and hearing so many of you say to me “Wow, you’re even shorter in real life!”
Nothing can ever prepare you to become Chancellor, especially in recent times. There have been occasions where it really did feel that the world was collapsing. In those moments, there are certain things I fell back on. Yes, my family. Yes, my colleagues. Yes, my tremendous Treasury team.
And yes, the person who made all this possible, the person who delivered a thumping Conservative majority, my friend, our leader, the country’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
But the other thing I fell back on is something we all have in this room. Our values. Our Conservative values.
I believe in some straightforward things.
I believe that mindless ideology is dangerous. I’m a pragmatist. I care about what works, not about the purity of any dogma. I believe in fiscal responsibility. Just borrowing more money and stacking up bills for future generations to pay, is not just economically irresponsible. It’s immoral.
Because it’s not the state’s money. It’s your money.
I believe that the only sustainable route out of poverty comes from having a good job. It’s not just the pounds it puts in your pockets. It’s the sense of worth and self-confidence it gives you. So I will do whatever I can to protect people’s livelihoods, and create new opportunities too.
And when it comes to those new opportunities, I am very much a child of my time. I spent the formative years of my career working around technology companies in California. And I believe the world is at the beginning of a new age of technological progress which can transform jobs, wealth, and transformed lives.
So: pragmatism. Fiscal responsibility. A belief in work. And an unshakeable optimism about the future. This is who I am. This is what I stand for. This is what it will take. And we will do whatever it takes.
Our Plan is Working
And there can be no prosperous future unless it is built on the foundation of strong public finances.
And I have to be blunt with you. Our recovery comes with a cost.
Our national debt is almost 100% of GDP – so we need to fix our public finances. Because strong public finances don’t happen by accident. They are a deliberate choice. They are a legacy for future generations. And a safeguard against future threats.
I’m grateful, and we should all be grateful to my predecessors and their 10 years of sound Conservative management of our economy. They believed in fiscal responsibility. I believe in fiscal responsibility. And everyone in this hall does too.
And whilst I know tax rises are unpopular. Some will even say un-Conservative. I’ll tell you what IS un-Conservative.
Unfunded pledges.
Reckless borrowing.
And soaring debt.
Anyone who tells you that you can borrow more today, and tomorrow will simply sort itself out just doesn’t care about the future.
Yes, I want tax cuts. But in order to do that, our public finances must be put back on a sustainable footing.
Labour’s track record on the public finances speaks for itself.
Since 2010, we’ve had 5 Labour Leaders, 7 Shadow Chancellors and innumerable spending pledges. And in all that time they still haven’t got the message. The British people won’t trust a Party that isn’t serious with their money. That’s why they vote Conservative.
We must never forget that the fundamental economic differences between us and Labour run very deep.
Differences not just about debt and borrowing but about how to deal with the real pressures people face in their lives.
And right now, we are facing challenges to supply chains not just here but right around the world and we are determined to tackle them head on.
But tackling the cost of living isn’t just a political sound bite. It’s one of the central missions of this Conservative government.
Picture this: you’re a young family. You work hard, saving a bit each month. But it’s tough.
You have ambitions for your careers for your children.
You want to give them the best more than you had.
Now you tell me: Is the answer to their hopes and dreams, just to increase their benefits?
Is the answer to tell that young family the economic system is rigged against you, and the only way you stand a chance is to lean ever more on the state?
Be in no doubt, that is the essence of the Labour answer.
Not only does Labour’s approach not work in practice. It is a desperately sad vision for our future.
But there is an alternative. An approach focused on good work, better skills, and higher wages.
An approach that says: ‘Yes, we believe in you. We will help you. And you will succeed.”
And better still, it’s more than words. It’s a plan in action. A Conservative plan and Conference it is working.
We’re giving people the means and opportunities to help themselves
Governments rarely get to set the tests by which they will ultimately be judged.
And our test is jobs.
Remember, as economies around the world pulled the shutters down, forecasters were predicting unemployment to reach 12%. Millions of people were on the precipice of losing their jobs, their livelihoods, and their homes.
Well, the forecasts were wrong.
The unemployment rate is at less than 5% and falling. That’s lower than France, America, Canada, Italy, and Spain.
And we now have one of the fastest recoveries of any major economy in the world.
Now it wasn’t that the forecasters had bad models No. It’s just their models did not take account of one thing – and that was this Conservative Government. Our will to act and our plan to deliver.
An increased national living wage. The restart programme. Sector based work academies. Doubling work coaches. Job finding support. Traineeships. Apprenticeship incentives. Skills Bootcamps. And the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
All things we are doing that won’t just help people but will give them the means and opportunities to help themselves.
Our plan for the future
I believe in good work, better skills, and higher wages.
I believe that every person in this country has the potential to become something greater.
And I know that we, and only we, the Conservative party, are the ones who can make that happen.
And our economy cannot be what we need it to be without the courage, creativity and sheer force of will that each new generation brings.
Yet, at its peak just under 1 in 3 workers under 25 were on furlough. One in three.
That’s one million people who didn’t have the fall back of a career history or a network of contacts, and in many cases hadn’t even moved into their first job.
And so what did we do? We created the Kickstart scheme, up running and working in a matter of months. A landmark programme that is helping young people start exciting new careers.
And thanks to our plan, young people, just like John Chihoro who introduced me today, are starting those new jobs in their thousands.
So to give more young people the same chance as John, I can confirm we are expanding our successful Plan for Jobs into next year.
The Kickstart scheme extra support through the Youth Offer, the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme, and our Apprenticeship Incentives. All extended because we believe in the awesome power of opportunity.
And we are going to make sure that no young person in our country is left without it.
But what we do today means little if we don’t also have a plan for tomorrow.
A plan for the future.
A future economy shaped by the forces of science, technology, and imagination.
The years I spent in California left a lasting mark on me, working with some of the most innovative and exciting people in finance and technology. Watching ideas becoming a reality. Seeing entrepreneurs build new teams.
It’s not just about money.
I saw a culture, a mindset which was unafraid to challenge itself, reward hard work, and was open to all those with the talent to achieve.
The future is here
I look across the United Kingdom and that culture is here too in the young people I’ve already spoken about today, unencumbered by timidity and orthodoxy.
And it’s there in our willingness to take risks not just on companies, but on people.
People with the raw potential to create a wave of the most dynamic high growth companies. A wave that will reach the farthest corners of the world.
That optimism, that unshakeable belief that the future, can be different and better was also at the heart of Brexit.
I remember over five years ago being told that if I backed Brexit my political career would be over before it had even begun.
Well, I put my principles first. And I always will.
I was proud to back Brexit. Proud to back Leave.
And that’s because despite the challenges in the long term, I believed the agility flexibility and freedom provided by Brexit would be more valuable in a 21st century global economy than just proximity to a market.
That in the long term a renewed culture of enterprise willingness to take risks and be imaginative would inspire changes in the way we do things at home.
Brexit was never just about the things we couldn’t do. It was also about the things we didn’t do.
That’s why we introduced the super deduction, a UK first in tax policy which is triggering an explosion in capital investment.
That’s why we created the Help to Grow scheme another UK first to help small and medium sized companies digitize skill up and scale up.
That’s why we launched the Future Fund another UK first in government investment backing high potential start-ups.
My point is this: even if you can’t see it yet, I assure you, the future is here.
Now is the time to turn to the future
Last year alone the UK attracted more venture capital investment to our startups than France and Germany combined.
And along with enhanced infrastructure and improved skills, we are going to make this country not just a Science Superpower, not just the best place in the world to do business… I believe we’re going to make the United Kingdom the most exciting place on the planet.
Take Artificial Intelligence. Once the stuff of science fiction. Now it’s reality – and we’re a global leader.
The steam engine kicked off the industrial revolution. Computers delivered automation. The internet brought information exchange.
And as the latest general-purpose technology, AI has the potential to transform whole economies and societies.
If Artificial Intelligence were to contribute just the average productivity increase of those three technologies, that would be worth around £200 billion a year to our economy.
And so today, I am announcing that we will create 2,000 elite AI scholarships for disadvantaged young people and double the number of Turing AI World-Leading Research Fellows, helping to ensure that the most exciting industries and opportunities are open to all parts of our society.
New policy, focused on innovative technology, supporting jobs for the next generation, a sign of our ambition for the future.
Because that’s why we are here. All of us. That’s why we became members of the Conservative party.
That’s why you all give up so much of your time sacrificing things that are important to you in order to help build a better future.
You know, the longer I spend in this job, the more I realise that the worst parts of politics are driven by fear. Fear of change. Fear of losing. The fear of being wrong. Even fear of the future.
And when people get scared they create divisions. They say: “you’re either with us or you’re with them.” But you cannot make progress if you’re pitting people against each other.
That’s what you get from a tired, fearful sort of politics. We saw it last week in Brighton.
It’s not just that Labour don’t like us. They don’t even like each other.
Whereas we, the Conservatives, are now and always will be the party of business and the party of the worker.
The party of the private sector and the public sector.
A party for the old and the young.
The British people want a party that can get things done.
So, at just the moment when it feels like we’ve done enough, that we’ve gotten through, that we can take a rest, we must not stop.
Now is the time to show them that our plan will deliver.
And now is the time, at last, at long last, to finally turn to the future.
Thank you.
Responding to the Chancellor’s speech at Conservative Party Conference, Helen Barnard, Deputy Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“The Chancellor may say he has a plan for jobs but he has no plan for paying the bills.
“He spoke of doing whatever it takes to protect people’s livelihoods, yet he is cutting the incomes of around 5.5 million families by £1,040 a year on Wednesday when we are facing a cost of living crisis.
“It is completely wrong to suggest there is a trade-off between good jobs and adequate social security when they are both essential to improving people’s living standards.”
“This cut will impact many working families and inadequate social security makes it harder for people to seize opportunities whilst they struggle to stay afloat. We must ensure people who are sick, disabled or caring for others and therefore unable to work can meet their needs with dignity.
“To impose the biggest ever overnight cut to social security would be economically irresponsible which is why it is so fiercely opposed from across the political spectrum. The Government can’t credibly claim to be levelling up while levelling down people’s incomes. He must abandon this cut.”
Joseph Rowntree Foundation issues a stark warning ahead of the cut to Universal Credit scheduled for 6 October – the same day as the Prime Minister’s speech at Conservative Party Conference.
New analysis looks at the impact of the Universal Credit cut by local authority.
On Wednesday, as the Prime Minister delivers his speech to the Conservative Party Conference, his government will be imposing the biggest ever overnight cut to social security. This will reduce the incomes of around 5.5 million families by £1,040 per year.
In the Greater Manchester Combined Authority area – the host city of this year’s Conservative Party Conference – around 312,000 working-age families (26%) are facing this historic cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
If the Government presses ahead with the cut, it would:
Pull half a million people into poverty, including 200,000 children.
Fundamentally undermine the adequacy of our social security system at precisely the moment when families are facing considerable increases in the cost of their energy bills, prices on the shelves are going up and National Insurance is set to rise in April 2022.
Reduce the main rate of out-of-work support down to its lowest level in real terms since around 1990 and its lowest ever level as a proportion of average earnings.
The Government themselves have admitted this week that families may struggle to meet basic costs, like food and heating, by increasing the funding available for local authorities to give grants to families in emergency situations.
The support available through their newly announced Household Support Fund is temporary and discretionary and is typically reserved for one-off emergency situations such as a broken fridge. This scheme does not come close to meeting the scale of the challenge facing families.
Who will be impacted by the cut?
New analysis finds that in 35 local authorities across Great Britain 50% or more of working-age families with children will be impacted by the planned cut.
JRF has consistently warned that:
Working families make up around 60% of families who will be affected by the cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit.
Families with children (particularly single-parent families), those containing someone who is disabled, and Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (‘BAME’) families, will be disproportionately impacted by the reduction in Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit.
The cut will have the most severe impact in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East, North West and West Midlands, although no region will be left unscathed by this decision.
Katie Schmuecker, Deputy Director of Policy & Partnerships at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said:“The Prime Minister is abandoning millions to hunger and hardship with his eyes wide open. The biggest ever overnight cut to social security flies in the face of the Government’s mission to unite and level up our country.
“When the increase to Universal Credit was introduced, the Chancellor said it was to “strengthen the safety net” – a tacit admission a decade of cuts and freezes had left our social security lifeline to wear thin and threadbare for families in and out of work relying on it. This planned cut would reverse the progress made and leave it wholly inadequate.
“People’s bills won’t get £87-a-month cheaper from Wednesday and families are already anxious about how they will get through a looming cost of living crisis. This decision is set to plunge half a million people into poverty and shows a total disregard for the consequences. The Prime Minister cannot say he has not been warned, he must abandon this cut.”
Table 1: Top 10 Labour and Conservative majority local authorities with the highest percentage of working-age families with children impacted by the cut
Top 10 Labour majority local authorities affected
Top 10 Conservative majority local authorities affected
Local Authority
% of all working-age families with children impacted by the cut
Local Authority
% of all working-age families with children impacted by the cut
Newham
64
Pendle
58
Leicester
62
Walsall
53
Manchester
61
Great Yarmouth
52
Bradford
61
North East Lincolnshire
50
Oldham
60
Southampton
49
Birmingham
60
East Lindsey
48
Blackburn with Darwen
58
Dover
45
Kingston upon Hull – City of
58
North Lincolnshire
44
Sandwell
58
South Holland
44
Tower Hamlets
58
Nuneaton and Bedworth
44
Of local authorities with no majority party, with the highest percentages of working-age families with children impacted by the planned cut, Middlesbrough (60%) and Burnley (58%) are both coalition-led councils. Blackpool (57%) is Labour minority and Thanet (55%), Peterborough (55%) and Stoke-on-Trent (55%) are all Conservative minority.
Table 2: Families impacted by £20-per-week reduction to UC/WTC in October 2021
Family type
Families on UC or WTC losing £20 per week in October 2021
Number of families (millions)
Proportion of families who lose
% of all working-age families of that type who lose
All working-age families
5.5
100%
20%
Families with someone in work
3.5
64%
16%
Families without someone in work
2.0
36%
33%
Single without children
2.3
42%
18%
Couples without children
0.6
10%
8%
Single-parent families
1.1
20%
61%
Couple-parent families
1.5
28%
25%
Families where someone is disabled
2.8
50%
35%
Families where no one is disabled
2.7
50%
14%
BAME families
1.1
20%
25%
Non-BAME families
4.4
80%
19%
Source: Microsimulation by JRF using the IPPR Tax and Benefits Microsimulation Model and the OBR’s March 2021 forecasts. Breakdowns may not sum to totals due to rounding.
Making this decision with his eyes wide open:
The cut is opposed by six former Conservative Work & Pensions Secretaries, the Northern Research Group of Conservative MPs, the One Nation Group of Conservative MPs, all the devolved administrations, numerous cross-party committees in all nations of the UK. Iain Duncan Smith recently said, “the extra £20 has returned to UC some of the investment that was cut from my original design.”
100 organisations are urging the Prime Minister not to cut Universal Credit. Among the signatories of the joint open letter to the Prime Minister are leading voices on health, education, children, housing, poverty, the economy and other aspects of public policy. (published 2 September)
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has joined with the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland to demand Prime Minister Boris Johnson “do the right thing” by reversing the decision to withdraw the £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit.
In a rare joint intervention, the leaders of the devolved nations have warned in a letter that the UK Government “is withdrawing this lifeline just as the country is facing a significant cost-of-living crisis.”
They have urged the Prime Minister to “consider the moral, social and economic harms” of the of this cut, and “do the right thing” and reverse his government’s decision to withdraw this funding which will harm around 6 million people across the UK.
The First Minister, along with Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and Northern Ireland First Minister and deputy First Minister Paul Givan and Michelle O’Neill say the move, which comes into effect this Wednesday, 6 October, is short sighted at a time of increases in the cost of food and fuel, rising inflation, the end of the furlough scheme, and imminent rise in National Insurance contributions.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I do not think there has been anything quite so morally indefensible in UK policy in recent times as the proposed cut to Universal Credit.
“At a time when we are facing the impact of the pandemic, Brexit and soaring costs, removing £20 per week from the lowest-income households simply cannot be defended in any way, shape or form.
“The planned cut represents the biggest overnight reduction to the basic rate of social security in more than 70 years and would sever a crucial lifeline for countless households across the UK at a time when budgets are already facing an unprecedented squeeze.
“It is an immoral, ill-thought out and ultimately counterproductive policy which simply must be stopped.
“Those on low incomes are going to find it difficult to feed their children, heat their homes, and pay their rent if the cut goes ahead. We have therefore united as the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to say to the Prime Minister: ‘Do not do this.’”
The full text of the letter is included below:
Dear Prime Minister
We are writing to call on you, with the utmost urgency, to reverse your Government’s short-sighted decision to withdraw the £20-per-week uplift to Universal Credit.
Your Government is withdrawing this lifeline just as the country is facing a significant cost-of-living crisis. This winter millions of people are facing an untenable combination of increases to the cost of food and energy, rising inflation, the end of the furlough scheme, and an imminent hike to National Insurance contributions.
There is no rationale for cutting such crucial support at a point when people across the UK are facing an unprecedented squeeze on their household budgets.
Within the last month, an overwhelming majority of elected members in Holyrood, the Senedd, Stormont and Westminster have voiced their opposition to this cut to Universal Credit, as have the four social security committees of each parliament. The four Children’s Commissioners of each nation, numerous charities and faith groups have also expressed their grave concerns as have millions of people who face additional and unnecessary hardship because of this cut to Universal Credit against the backdrop of a winter of hardship.
We note your Government’s announcement of a Household Support Fund – an acknowledgment that too many people will be unable to make ends meet this winter. Unfortunately, a £500 million fund handed out on a discretionary basis is wholly inadequate to making up the £6 billion shortfall in social security expenditure that will result from the cut to Universal Credit.
Your Government has repeatedly refused to conduct any impact analysis on the biggest overnight reduction to the basic rate of social security for more than 70 years.
As such, it is important that we draw your attention to the growing body of evidence and analysis about the harm this cut will inflict. Research by the Resolution Foundation and the Trussell Trust has highlighted the significant and devastating impact the cliff-edge withdrawal of the £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit will have on family incomes, with an associated rise in food insecurity.
The Legatum Institute has produced sobering analysis highlighting that the £20-per-week uplift has kept 840,000 people, including 290,000 children, out of poverty in Q2 of 2021. It makes no sense at all to knowingly pursue a policy that will result in this immense and needless rise in child poverty and we ask you to consider the lasting harm and costs of this cut accordingly.
It is important to note that this will increase poverty and hardship without delivering any tangible social or economic benefits. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights said – when calling upon you to reverse this cut – that for a healthy and well-qualified workforce to emerge, your Government must provide adequate levels of social protection. Years of a freeze on benefits means Universal Credit has not kept pace with rising living costs. Further to this, rising inflation means that a basic rate of Universal Credit after this cut will hold less purchasing power than it did in March 2020.
To support a meaningful recovery from this pandemic we must first ensure the needs of our most vulnerable are met. This cut threatens to undermine the recovery by diminishing the capacity of six million people to make ends meet.
It is not too late for you to reverse the decision to take money out of the pockets of the poorest in society at a time when they are facing a serious cost of living crisis.
We, with the full support of the Northern Ireland Executive and the Scottish and Welsh Governments, urge you to consider the moral, social and economic harms of this cut, and do the right thing and reverse your decision to withdraw this lifeline.
A copy of this letter is being sent to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and relevant Secretary of States for the devolved nations.
Yesterday, Lothian MSP, and Scottish Greens Co-leader, Lorna Slater joined the overwhelming majority of MSPs in voting to oppose the cruel Tory £20 cut to universal credit that is being inflicted by Westminster.
The cut will impact tens of thousands of families in Lothian, cutting their income by £1,040 per year.
Lothian MSP and Scottish Greens Co-leader Lorna Slater said:“The Tories have shown their true colours. This is one of the biggest social security cuts ever seen in this country and could plunge tens of thousands of families in Lothian into despair.
“It is particularly unwelcome at a time when so many people are still struggling with the impact of the pandemic.
“£20 a week may not be a lot to the Prime Minister and his colleagues, but for far too many families it is crucial to their budgeting and their wellbeing. For many people across this city, it could be the difference between a warm home and a cold one this winter
“Many people claiming universal credit are in fact in work. The so-called uplift was not an act of generosity, but an admission of failure – an admission that the system had been so damaged by cuts that it was no longer able to provide adequate support for people needing help with their incomes for reasons beyond their control.
“The cut is symbolic of a UK government that knows the price of some things but the value of nothing. It shows why Scotland needs the powers to chart a different path that prioritises human need and builds a fairer, greener recovery for all.”
Holyrood Social Security Minister, Edinburgh Northern & Leith MSP Ben Macpherson, closed yesterday’s debate:
Demonstrators gathered at High Riggs Jobcentre yesterday to demand the re-instatement of the £20 cut to Universal Credit. The protest was called by Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty in response to a call from Disabled People Against the Cuts for UK-wide protests.
Participants included disabled people, pensioners, workers and a group of school students.
Police attended but did not intervene.
The demonstrators denounced the UK government cut, due to be implemented from the end of this month. Protestors held placards with the hashtag #20MoreForAll, demanding the £20 increase be extended to “legacy benefits” like Job Seekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance.
Campaigners have raised alarm at the hardship which a £20 cut will cause to the six million Universal Credit claimants, who include the low paid, unemployed, families and sick and disabled people.
Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty leaflets distributed at the protest quoted research by the Child Poverty Action Group.
The research reveals that over the last decade nearly 100 cuts have been made to social security entitlement and the value of payments has fallen as social security rates have been either frozen or increased by less than inflation.
Thus even with the £20 increase a typical Universal Credit claimant would be hundreds of pounds worse off in 2021 than in 2010.
Ethel MacDonald of Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty said: “The brutal cut in Universal Credit is yet another example of governments attacking the poor to benefit the rich.
“This is also an attack on wages and conditions, aiming to force people to accept insecure low paid jobs. Many on Universal Credit are of course already in such badly paid work, since 39% of Universal Credit claimants are in employment.”
The ECAP spokesperson urged people to organise: “ We need to organise at the grass-roots to resist the cut to Universal Credit, the entire austerity agenda, and the whole profit-based system.
“Claimants need to join together and support each other – for example by accompanying each other to appointments and assessments.”
ECAP stress: “After today’s protest, the struggle against the cut continues. What’s more, we are opposing the DWP’s reckless return to compulsory jobcentre appointments – this endangers both claimants and jobcentre workers, due to the continuing covid threat. We totally oppose all sanctions, and urge claimants to contact us for solidarity.”
While MSPs will debate the Universal Credit cut at Holyrood today, the decision lies with Westminister. The UK Government insists the UC uplift was always intended to be a temporary measure and that their focus is on getting people into work.
Women Speak Scotland, as part of a coalition of 14 Scottish grassroots feminist and women’s rights organisations, have called on the Scottish Parliament to reject the Scottish Government’s proposed reform of the Gender Recognition Act.
Our joint statement, sent to all 129 MSPs, sets out our principled objections to the proposed legislation in its current form.
The First Minister has offered an assurance that this new legislation will “not … remove any of the legal protections women currently have”.
We welcome this commitment to women’s sex-based rights.
However, we believe the central feature of the proposed Bill – the introduction of sex self-identification – is incompatible with retaining women’s existing rights and protections under the Equality Act.
We use the term sex self-ID rather than gender self-ID because the most significant aspect of obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC) is that it allows people to engage in the legal fiction that they have become a member of the opposite sex, despite the biological impossibility of such an action.
Sex self-ID contributes to widespread confusion that makes it increasingly difficult to name, identify or define women or to protect any single-sex spaces, including hospital wards, prisons, youth hostels and changing rooms, sports, awards and women-only shortlists.
We ask the Scottish Government to drop its plans to introduce sex self-ID and to ensure its commitment to women is kept by:
Ensuring women’s voices and experiences are heard and inform any legislative change;
Ensuring protections for women on the basis of our sex are strengthened and not weakened by any changes to legislation;
Maintaining single-sex spaces for the dignity, privacy, physical, emotional and psychological safety of women and girls;
Guaranteeing the human rights of women, including those to freedom of speech and assembly, are not adversely affected by legislative change.
We ask all MSPs to vote against the proposed Bill because of its hugely detrimental impact on women’s rights to safe single-sex spaces and freedom of speech.
Signatories Frontline Feminists Scotland Women Speak Scotland Sole Sisters Women Matter Keep Prisons Single Sex Liberal Voice for Women Yes Women’s Pledge Labour Women’s Declaration Conservatives For Women Independence for Scotland Party (ISP) Brodie’s Trust Audacious Women Festival National Network of Scottish Feminists Women’s Human Rights Campaign (Scotland)
Vital plans to invest at least £1.8 billion to make buildings in Scotland net zero were endorsed by parliament this week, just as gas prices surge, threatening to push many more families across the country into fuel poverty.
Figures show that a quarter of households in Scotland are already considered to be in fuel poverty. Scottish Greens Lothian MSP Lorna Slater has said that as well as the need to tackle the immediate problem, the issue shows that the requirement to lower Scotland’s climate emissions goes hand in hand with tackling fuel poverty.
Scottish Greens co-leader and Lothian MSP Lorna Slater said: “The surge in gas prices is a real concern to so many people who rely on fossil fuels to heat their homes, and, yet again, demonstrates why we must end our dependency on volatile, unreliable and climate-destroying fossil fuels.
“That’s why we are accelerating plans to make homes across Scotland more efficient and to switch from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives. To support this, we will invest at least £1.8bn over the next five years.
“It has been galling to see Boris Johnson preach climate responsibility on the world stage while his government is forcing families into poverty in Lothian and beyond. All the while he is doing nothing to decarbonise heating and transport.
“We don’t have time for this kind of reckless approach, which is why, with Greens in government, Scotland will take a different path.”
Gordon MacDonald SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands has welcomed the recent launch of Vodafone’s charities.connected, an initiative to tackle digital exclusion and connect one million people by the end of 2022.
This initiative gives charities the opportunity to apply for free connectivity to help individuals and families they support get online or to improve its own digital capability.
The connectivity, in the form of SIM cards offering 20GB of data plus free calls and texts every month for six months, will work in any SIM-enabled device.
Registered charities of any size can apply by completing a simple online application form with applications closing on 1 November 2022.
Gordon MacDonald said: “The pandemic has highlighted the scale of digital exclusion and in particular its impact on the most vulnerable in society.
“Digital connectivity is increasingly essential to access work, education, healthcare and to keep in touch with family and friends.
“The Scottish Government is already providing support in tackling digital exclusion through their Connecting Scotland programme and this initiative from Vodafone contributes in those efforts to close the digital divide.
“I would encourage third sector organisations providing support to families and individuals that would benefit from this initiative to apply.”
