SNP figures in Stirling have hit out at Tory welfare reforms following the news that almost 12,000 people in the area have received a crisis grant since 2013.
The cash, provided by the Scottish Welfare Fund, is available to people on low incomes in emergency situations such as after a fire or flood, those who are victims of domestic violence and workers who have been made redundant.
Bruce Crawford, the area’s SNP MSP, and Alyn Smith, the SNP candidate for Stirling, criticised Conservatives after the figure was revealed by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities following a parliamentary question.
Crawford said he was “staggered” by the number. He added: “This coincides with a rise in food bank usage in recent years, and a recent report from Heriot-Watt University points to the reforms and cuts from the current Tory Government as one of the main causes for forcing people to having to use food banks and receive crisis grants.
“Any politician who has defended this system should hang their heads in shame, Stirling and Scotland deserves so much better.”
Meanwhile, Smith said: “The UK Government should follow the example of the Scottish Government who, with the few powers we have devolved over welfare, have introduced a social security system with dignity, fairness and respect at its very heart.”
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