Action urged on poverty in Scotland

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Sandra Osborne MP says Scotland must recognise the risk of increased poverty to come unless it gets the political leadership it needs and the policies it deserves.

I don't think I could be accused of sentimentality in my choice of debate for St Andrew's Day -'Poverty in Scotland'. Of course it was also the day of industrial action in support of public sector workers and their pensions. Scotland faces growing poverty and an attack on workers' rights at the hands of the ideologically driven right wing coalition government.

In Scotland 970,000 people (19 per cent of the population) and 250,000 children (25 per cent of all children) still live in poverty. Real progress was made by the Labour government in reducing the numbers of people in poverty, specifically among children and pensioners. However, since 2007 there has been no overall reductions and the wide gap between rich and poor hasn't really reduced.

The Tories are very quick to identify individual behaviour as a cause of most social ills but individual behaviour doesn't explain the extent of poverty in Scotland. The key drivers of poverty are inequality, low pay, inadequate benefits, poor quality work opportunities and lack of support for those with caring responsibilities, ill health or effected by disability.

Almost a million households, more than one in three Scots, now struggle to heat their homes – but the SNP have cut the budget to help tackle fuel poverty by almost a third, down from £70.9m in 2010/11 to £48m in 2011/12.

Researchers from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University calculate the headline total of 2.6m men and women on incapacity benefits is set to be cut by nearly 1m by 2014. By far the largest impact will fall on the older industrial areas of the North, Scotland and Wales, where local economies have been struggling for years to cope with job loss and where the prospects of former claimants finding work are weakest.

On a more positive note, there is an alternative - a Better Way – and part of that is Labour's 5 Point Plan for Jobs to kick-start growth and get the economy moving again.

Scotland would reap the benefits if we could:
-Levy a £2bn tax on bank bonuses to fund 100,000 jobs for young people and build 25,000 more affordable homes.
-Bring forward investment projects like new school buildings.
-Temporarily reverse the VAT rise – a £450 boost for families with children.
-Cut VAT on home improvements to 5 per cent for a year.
-Give a tax break for every small firm which takes on extra workers.

There is more than one Scotland, just as there is more than one Britain. In the end it depends on your perspective; your politics; your priorities. Socialism is the language of priorities. Tories would argue that conservatism is also the language of priorities – just a very different set of priorities. And as for the SNP – nationalism is good at the rhetoric of priorities but not so good at the reality.

Scotland desperately needs to get away from the tired endless wrangling over constitutional issues and the protracted debate over the long time in coming independence referendum. We need to focus on the real Scotland; a country of huge achievement and potential; a country rich in its diverse cultures but also a country knowing the reality of poverty and the risk of increased poverty to come unless Scotland gets the political leadership it needs and the policies it deserves.

Sandra Osborne has been Labour MP for Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock since 1997