Hansard

I am grateful to the member for that intervention, but, as I said, action is required from both our Governments—the UK Government and the Scottish Government.

The cut to VAT would kill two birds with one stone. It would give businesses a boost by encouraging spending, and it would lower prices for consumers. That would be at the heart of the response to the crisis. We could and should also increase and expand the winter fuel payment and the warm home discount.

The recent 6 per cent increase to several Scottish social security benefits was necessary and welcome, but the Government is not going far enough when it comes to disability benefits, which are being raised by just 3.1 per cent. That is almost 4 per cent less than the figure for inflation that was announced last month, and it could be 5 per cent less than the figure that experts are predicting. That is simply not good enough for many Scottish households.

The latest figures predict that, this year, the country faces a £10.9 billion tax hit due to the Conservatives choosing to increase national insurance. The very last thing that struggling families need right now is more tax to pay.

The Scottish Government must also announce protection for households that are experiencing council tax rises due to the cuts that it has made to council budgets—cuts that should never have happened and which my party has opposed since the start.

Some energy companies stand to benefit from the crisis; they are profiting while people literally cannot afford to buy food. Now is the moment to impose a Robin Hood tax on those energy companies that make superprofits, in order to help fund the support that people need.

While we are at it, why do we not take the opportunity to finally crack down on the tax avoidance schemes that have been going on for far too long? Sadly, one does not have to look far to find people with exorbitant amounts of wealth who go out of their way to bend the rules and avoid paying their fair share. That simply has to stop—I am sure that members of the Scottish Conservative Party will agree whole-heartedly.

The Scottish Government must also reverse its recent 3.8 per cent rail fare hike. The SNP and the Greens should be making train tickets cheaper, not increasing their cost. The Government has known for two years that it would run ScotRail, and the Scottish Green Party had a specific manifesto promise to bring down rail costs. Instead, together, they have driven up those costs, which have risen by 4 per cent. They promise a review—more talk—while they put up the prices, which is a betrayal of everyone who is struggling right now. Make no mistake: a vote for the Government’s amendment is a vote against cheaper rail fares.

The Scottish Government could also activate an emergency nationwide home insulation programme to increase energy efficiency. We can help protect the environment and save people cash in the process. That would be an obvious step to take, and we should be able to agree on it across the chamber today.

I finish with the words of the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, who once wrote that

“to know that one life has breathed easier because you lived here. This is to have succeeded.”

Thousands of our neighbours, friends and, indeed, constituents are being strangled and suffocated by this crisis; they have not breathed easy for a very long time. We in Parliament are in the immensely privileged position of being able to take action that would lighten their burden in some way, and it is our duty to do so.

I move,

That the Parliament considers that both the Scottish and UK governments must immediately do much more to tackle the worst cost of living crisis for generations, and that without additional help this will have a devastating impact on household incomes and poverty; believes that every household could benefit from a cost of living rescue package; urges the UK Government to act through a cut to VAT to 17.5%, worth £600 to the average household, the reversal of the National Insurance rise, the doubling and expansion of the Winter Fuel Payment and Warm Home Discount, and a “Robin Hood” tax on the energy companies that are making super profits from the current crisis; urges the Scottish Government to use its wholly devolved powers to reverse the recent 3.8% rail fare hike and, instead, to expand the system of railcards so that everyone is eligible to get the benefit of rail discounts of at least one third off, based on the model that already exists throughout London and the south east of England; further urges the Scottish Government to increase the value of disability benefits, announce protection for households experiencing council tax rises due to the Scottish Government’s cuts to council budgets, and activate an emergency nationwide home insulation programme with reports provided monthly to Parliament on the impact of its interventions to increase household energy efficiency, and considers that together these steps would help insulate households from the cost of living crisis, where recent government decisions have added to their exposure.