Half of households in Scotland relying on Universal Credit have suffered deductions in their benefit payments, figures show.
Almost half of the £11.3 million taken in one month this year was to repay upfront loans that claimants are forced to take out from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) while waiting five weeks for their first UC payment.
Chris Stephens, the SNP MP who uncovered the data, branded it a "poverty tax" that saw 188,000 households across Scotland lose £60 on average.
