THE UK Government is being accused of doing “too little too late” to repair damage caused by a four-year freeze on working-age benefits.
The Tories have announced a 1.7% increase in the welfare payments. But ahead of a parliamentary debate on up-rating benefits, an SNP MP has warned the raise is not sufficient.
Boris Johnson’s Government has been told that if working-age benefits had been allowed to rise in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) then, cumulatively, they would have risen by 6.5% in nominal terms by 2019-20. The SNP’s Brendan O’Hara said that if the Tories were serious about ending their austerity agenda they would be making up that shortfall. If not, welfare powers should be transferred to Holyrood, he argued.
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The MP added that as of April, the benefits freeze will have cost Scots £300 million a year, negatively affected 27m people and forced 400,000 people into poverty.
“The SNP has repeatedly called on the Tories to scrap the benefits freeze – which has cost Scots £300 million a year. This up-rating is welcome but it is far too little and far too late,” O’Hara said.
“If the Tories really wanted to tackle the entrenched poverty their brutal austerity cuts have caused they would be making up the shortfall. Instead, they continue to impose policies that make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
“If this Tory Government will not take the necessary action and up-rate working-age benefits to make up the shortfall caused by the four-year freeze, then it should fully transfer social security to Scotland so we can get the job done ourselves.”
The Resolution Foundation has warned that Tory policies risk causing child poverty to reach a 60-year high of 34% across the UK by 2023/24 – with £3.8 billion to be cut from working-age benefits.
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