THE Alba Party has said it wants to see the Scottish Child Payment increased to £40 per week in a bid to eradicate child poverty.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and IPPR Scotland have said quadrupling the benefit would lift 50,000 more children out of poverty at a cost of £380 million per year, Alba estimates.
Leader Alex Salmond announced the move yesterday in Dundee where he said his party hoped to eradicate child poverty in the next parliamentary term.
Salmond said that the Scottish Government should consider the increase if the Universal Credit uplift of £20 is ended by the UK Government.
“The Scottish Parliament under successive SNP Governments has made much progress for the people of Scotland,” said the former First Minister.
“There are immediate interventions that can be made utilising the parliament’s existing resources.
“Doubling the Scottish Child Payment is one of these, but we must go further and listen to organisations like the Joseph Rowntree Foundation when they tell us that doubling it doesn’t go far enough. Children will be trapped in poverty, that is simply unacceptable and we must be much bolder.”
Alba also yesterday launched their animal welfare manifesto, calling for curbs on fireworks to reduce distress for pets.
The party is calling for “no firework zones” and limits on when pyrotechnics can be set off. They also want to see the Scottish Government close loopholes on fox hunting and make progress on banning electric shock collars.
Chris McEleny, one of the party’s candidates in the West of Scotland list, launched the manifesto accompanied by his dog Poppy.
McEleny also criticised the decision by Channel 4 not to feature his party in last night’s leaders’ debate, calling it “anti-democratic” and “out of touch”.
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