GORDON Brown has been criticised after he claimed the SNP “have the power” to end child poverty in Scotland but have decided not to – despite Labour’s support for the two-child benefit cap.
The cap, which was brought in by the Tories in 2017 and has since been backed by Labour leader Keir Starmer, has been called the "biggest driver" of child poverty in the UK by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) chief executive Alison Garnham.
It prevents families claiming benefits for their third or subsequent children, and has been consistently opposed by the SNP – who say policies such as the Scottish Child Payment have been brought in with the aim of partly mitigating its impact on young people.
In March, CPAG said that figures for 2020-2023 showed child poverty rates in Scotland were “broadly stable” – with around 24% of children suffering – despite data sets which “don’t yet include the full impact of the roll out of the Scottish Child Payment and its increase to £25 per week in November 2022”.
The same figures highlighted by CPAG showed child poverty rates in the rest of the UK were rising and from a higher baseline – of around 30% of children in poverty.
However, speaking to The Courier, former prime minister Brown appeared to pin the blame for child poverty in Scotland on the SNP and claim "child poverty is still rising in Scotland", contrary to CPAG's figures.
Brown went on: “Whatever the SNP has done is clearly not enough.
“When we left power in 2010 there was one foodbank, now there’s nearly 200. This is what has happened.
“The only way to deal with poverty is to have a Labour government replacing the Conservative government, working with the Scottish Government and with Fife and other local authorities.
“The SNP cannot say they have solved the problem. They have the power to do so but haven’t solved the problem.”
The comments were slammed by Stefan Hoggan-Radu, the SNP candidate for North East Fife, who said Labour’s choices were prioritising austerity over anti-poverty measures.
“The single biggest policy pushing children into poverty is the two-child cap – a Westminster decision to stop support going to families beyond their second child,” Hoggan-Radu said.
“Politics comes down to the choices we make and the SNP would choose to scrap the two-child cap. The question for Gordon Brown is why Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party is going to keep it.
“In the face of 14 years of Westminster austerity, the SNP has taken strong action to lift children out of poverty, and mitigate against cruel and punitive Westminster policies – senior Trussell Trust figure and former Labour MSP Cara Hilton has referenced the Scottish Government’s action plan to end the need for food banks, and urged the next UK government to mirror its approach.
“From the creation of the game-changing Scottish Child Payment, to the roll out of Best Start Grants and expansion of free school meals, SNP action is lifting an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty, and supporting families where it matters most, but we are limited in what we can achieve while having to spend money to mitigate Westminster’s neglect.
“Austerity is a choice – and the SNP will continue to reject it under the incoming Labour government, just as we did with the Tories.
“By electing SNP MPs on July 4, we can send a real opposition to Westminster with SNP MPs who will always put Scotland’s interests first, and fight to eradicate child poverty.”
Labour's manifesto suggests that the UK government could end up with a multi-billion-pound surplus under their fiscal plans, but the party has still refused to scrap the two-child limit.
Instead, Starmer has repeatedly said his priority will be growing the economy.
