Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 02 October 2013
02 Oct 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Cost of Living
It is depressing the SNP chooses to play constitutional politics instead of thinking about the real issues affecting people in Scotland.
I have already said enough to this SNP Government about the bedroom tax. I hope that it does not make a deliberate decision not to use the powers it has to protect people from the bedroom tax now.
I will conclude on child poverty. I am very proud of the progress that the Parliament made. We saw the lowest level of relative and absolute poverty in the first years of the Parliament, up to 2007. Sadly, under the SNP, progress has stalled.
The SNP needs to wake up. Many families in communities across Scotland have a real cost of living crisis. Those families need and deserve our help now, but the SNP puts Scotland on pause. It is guilty of the most shameless politics that puts the referendum first, before the interests of the people of this country.
I move,
That the Parliament notes the decline in real wages for people in Scotland at a time when living costs are rising; understands that the cost of essentials such as food, childcare and energy has risen and the report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2013, shows that, over the last five years, the cost of essential goods and services has increased by nearly 25%; is concerned at the increases in the number of people in fuel poverty and using food banks; notes that, in 2011-12, there were 950,000 people living in absolute poverty in Scotland, 220,000 of whom were children, and believes that both the UK and Scottish governments must act urgently to tackle these issues.
I have already said enough to this SNP Government about the bedroom tax. I hope that it does not make a deliberate decision not to use the powers it has to protect people from the bedroom tax now.
I will conclude on child poverty. I am very proud of the progress that the Parliament made. We saw the lowest level of relative and absolute poverty in the first years of the Parliament, up to 2007. Sadly, under the SNP, progress has stalled.
The SNP needs to wake up. Many families in communities across Scotland have a real cost of living crisis. Those families need and deserve our help now, but the SNP puts Scotland on pause. It is guilty of the most shameless politics that puts the referendum first, before the interests of the people of this country.
I move,
That the Parliament notes the decline in real wages for people in Scotland at a time when living costs are rising; understands that the cost of essentials such as food, childcare and energy has risen and the report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2013, shows that, over the last five years, the cost of essential goods and services has increased by nearly 25%; is concerned at the increases in the number of people in fuel poverty and using food banks; notes that, in 2011-12, there were 950,000 people living in absolute poverty in Scotland, 220,000 of whom were children, and believes that both the UK and Scottish governments must act urgently to tackle these issues.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-07872, in the name of Jackie Baillie, on the cost of living.14:55
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that times are tough, but times are much, much tougher for some people than they are for others. I am not often given ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Will the member give way?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
No. We have heard enough from you. Interruption.
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
A simple “No, thank you” would suffice, Ms Baillie.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer.The last time I looked, it was millionaires and bankers who had the broadest shoulders, but members should not kid themselves th...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Does Jackie Baillie agree that if the national minimum wage had been introduced at the rate of £5 per hour, which unions asked for at the time, we would not ...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
That was an interesting intervention from John Wilson. Aside from the fact that Labour ensured that the minimum wage was uprated adequately, I recall that th...
Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
I appreciate what the member says and believe that she and I would be in agreement on a lot of things. However, how does she square that circle with her desi...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
That is just ridiculous. If we examine the SNP’s record, we can see that it is the SNP that is taking money away from low-income families by not targeting th...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Will the member give way?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I have not got time.I campaigned for a Scottish Parliament because I realised the Parliament’s potential to help people at times such as this. Just as the la...
Gavin Brown
Con
Will the member give way?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I genuinely do not have enough time.What about food banks? The Trussell Trust reported in April this year that the number of people in Scotland using food ba...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Order.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
It is depressing the SNP chooses to play constitutional politics instead of thinking about the real issues affecting people in Scotland. I have already said ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I am afraid that members will have to keep to their time limits, as the debate is oversubscribed.15:09
The Minister for Youth Employment (Angela Constance)
SNP
I very much welcome the debate, which gives the Parliament an important opportunity to continue to make its distinctive voice heard on such vital matters.I b...
Drew Smith (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister take an intervention?
Angela Constance
SNP
In a minute.The bus pass for Scotland’s older citizens saves cardholders around £250 a year and the scrapping of bridge tolls saves a regular commuter £233 a...
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister give way?
Angela Constance
SNP
In a moment.Nursery care is being expanded, which will save families £707 per child per year.
Drew Smith
Lab
I am grateful to the minister for coming back to me.There is something that I would like the minister to help me with. I thought that the position of the Sco...
Angela Constance
SNP
Unlike David Cameron, I believe in a Scotland in which those with the broadest shoulders bear the biggest burden, but to allow that to happen we need to have...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Will the minister give way?
Angela Constance
SNP
In a moment. As John Swinney has made clear, this Government will not walk by on the other side.I give way briefly to Jackie Baillie.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
I will indeed be brief. Does the minister support Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze?
Angela Constance
SNP
I think that Ed Miliband’s energy price freeze is very well intended. It is a scandal that in a resource-rich country such as Scotland we have fuel poverty. ...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
But does the minister support the principle?
Angela Constance
SNP
I want to see the details. However, I have to say that I would have had more confidence in Ed Miliband had I not looked at his record in government as energy...