Meeting of the Parliament 26 October 2022
I did not say that that was in the gift of the Scottish Government. I set out a series of policies that were dismissed and then adopted by the UK and Scottish Governments. However, I should point out that they were also dismissed by, and then supported by, Scottish National Party MPs at Westminster. Perhaps that escaped the member.
For months now, people who were managing have found themselves pushed to the brink with repeated financial shocks. Food costs, heating bills, fuel costs, spiralling rents and now mortgages keep on going in one direction, and that is up.
Our plan detailed interventions that would make a real difference to families in Scotland, so we are returning to the chamber to call on the Scottish Government to take further action.
I want to be clear that the unprecedented chaos that has been unleashed on the UK by the Tories at a time when we need stability the most means that this winter will be longer and harder than any of us expected when we put forward our cost of living plan in August. The Conservatives’ disastrous mini-budget crashed the pound and accelerated the rise in costs that families are having to bear.
The Food & Drink Federation put food ingredient inflation at 30 per cent, and because imports are traded in dollars, non-European Union imports have become more expensive.
Even now, the reality of the situation, including vital information about the rate at which pensioners and people on benefits will have their payments uprated, will not be known until 17 November.
The Deputy First Minister—who is not here—recently tweeted that he would not have to recalculate his budget review, because he never expected the mini-budget Barnett consequentials to ever materialise. If it is the case that no recalculation is required, the Government could bring forward its own statement.
Our motion returns to the cost of living plan to help those in need. It calls for the cancelling of school meals debt, increased funding for money advice services and a top-up to the welfare fund—all of which, for the interest of those who have a concern about what this Parliament and Government can do, is within this Parliament’s gift. Those measures are firmly within the gift of this Government and could have a real and substantial impact on people’s lives.