Poverty has been rising across Scotland for the past few years. And new evidence suggests that the SNP has failed to protect Scotland’s most vulnerable families during the pandemic, with the BAME community suffering more than most.
A recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that despite Scottish Government commitments to tackle social deprivation, the number of children living in poverty has continued to rise, now totalling 230,000. The Aberlour Child Care Trust has recorded a tenfold increase in demand for urgent support services. Opposition politicians have lambasted the Government for their poor record calling the issue a ‘humanitarian crisis’.
Worryingly, this crisis has not had a uniform effect but is more pronounced among certain ethnic minority groups. The poverty rate for White British people in Scotland is around 18%, nearly half that of the Black community, 38% of whom, live in poverty. For the Scottish Asian community, the rate is 34%, and for non-British White people, it is 26%.
Nicola Sturgeon announced token measures including a one-off £100 grant for low-income families, in response to a tidal wave of criticism. Although a nice gesture, the grant does not address the lack of opportunity that underpins the poverty issue. Stable quality jobs and a reliable education system are needed to offer a route out of poverty.
Sturgeon also said the SNP would expand eligibility for free breakfasts to all primary school children if re-elected in May. Interestingly, the Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross made precisely the same promise only months before.
Opposition politicians have been quick to point out the hypocrisy of the SNP. According to MSP Elaine Smith, the party ‘pontificates about a post-independence land of milk and honey but has spent a decade failing to use the levers at their disposal to tackle child poverty. Their record in office over the last decade has been one of abysmal failure and the fact that Scotland is not on course to meet its interim child poverty targets within three years is indicative of that.’
Overall, the Scottish Government seems to be more interested in talking about poverty than actually dealing with it. During their 13 years in power, the SNP have continued to rail against Westminster despite the continued devolution of taxation and spending controls to Holyrood. It is high time that the reins of power are handed to those with a development plan that looks past the divisive independence question and actually works to strengthen the union and leverage its benefits.