UK Chancellor should use “full range of powers”.
The UK Government is being urged to invest in public services and deploy its full range of powers to tackle the cost of living crisis, supporting people and businesses.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt ahead of his Spring Budget to call for targeted support to help more families out of poverty by reinstating the uplift to Universal Credit, increasing it to £25 per week and extending it to means-tested legacy benefits.
He said vulnerable households should not have to bear the burden of soaring energy prices, and called for windfall tax revenues to fund much-needed support. Mr Swinney also pressed for support for struggling businesses to provide the certainty to invest and grow. Cost of living rises are putting a huge strain on households, many of whom are struggling to cope, and the outlook remains very concerning.
Commenting, Evelyn Tweed MSP for Stirling, said:
‘The most effective way to alleviate poverty is to put money into the hands of those who need it. The UK Government have an opportunity in the Spring Budget to lift some of the pressure they’ve created with the cost of living crisis and they must take it. The Scottish Government has been doing what it can with limited powers, including increasing the Scottish Child Payment, but the only way to build a fairer and more equal Scotland, free from Tory incompetence, is through independence.