MICHELLE THOMSON MSP CONDEMNS SCOTTISH TORIES FOR BACK “SHAMEFUL CUTS TO UNIVERSAL CREDIT”
The Scottish Parliament has voted overwhelming to support cancelling the Tory UK Government’s planned £20 cut to Universal Credit next month. Following the vote, Falkirk East MSP, Michelle Thomson, condemned the Scottish Tories for backing the cut which will remove over £1,000 from over 12,200 households across the wider Falkirk district.
Hundreds of anti-poverty campaigners, human rights experts, cross-party committees and the devolved Governments have all urged the UK Government to keep the lifeline, with the Tories now under pressure to support people who have been worst affected by the pandemic.
The Tory’s planned cut has also faced opposition from their own Conservative colleagues in Westminster - including former Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson and six former Tory DWP Secretary of States. The current elected Scottish Conservatives are choosing to defend the biggest welfare reduction since the 1930s.
Commenting SNP MSP Michelle Thomson for Falkirk East constituency said:“The Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly spoke and demanded the Tory UK Government halts their plans to scrap the uplift to Universal Credit. Sadly, we also witnessed every single Tory MSP failing to stand up to their Westminster bosses in opposing the £20 a week cut – the biggest welfare cut since the 1930s.
“I am quite frankly shocked, but not surprised, that the Scottish Tory MSPs not only voted to back the Universal Credit cut which will condemn thousands of families to poverty, but actively defended it – the Nasty Party is well and truly back. History will remember them for this - Scottish Tory MSPs are letting down thousands of families and children by supporting this callous cut in favour of propping up their Tory chums in the UK government who are imposing these policies on the people of Scotland.
“This demonstrates once again how the people of Scotland cannot afford to continue to suffer under Westminster control. Over 12,000 households, many of them families, across Falkirk district will be hit hardest by these changes. We need to have the option of choosing a different path in a referendum which can give us the full powers of independence where we can build a fairer Scotland.”
Note:
Universal Credit Households in Scotland by local authority as of May 2021:
- Aberdeen City 15817
- Aberdeenshire 12144
- Angus 8163
- Argyll and Bute 5192
- City of Edinburgh 32022
- Clackmannanshire 4695
- Dumfries and Galloway 9830
- Dundee City 14502
- East Ayrshire 11761
- East Dunbartonshire 5111
- East Lothian 7917
- East Renfrewshire 3760
- Falkirk 12229
- Fife 30776
- Glasgow City 63339
- Highland 16764
- Inverclyde 7994
- Midlothian 7297
- Moray 5623
- Na h-Eileanan Siar 1311
- North Ayrshire 13586
- North Lanarkshire 29496
- Orkney Islands 843
- Perth and Kinross 8710
- Renfrewshire 13372
- Scottish Borders 7109
- Shetland Islands 1080
- South Ayrshire 9073
- South Lanarkshire 25493
- Stirling 5733
- West Dunbartonshire 8475
- West Lothian 13689
- Scotland 412916
