'Cruel' universal credit cut will devastate the already vulnerable say Black Isle Greens
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BLACK Isle Greens co-ordinator Anne Thomas has expressed concern about the effects of the £20 cut in Universal Credit and called it cruel.
She says: "For over a year now Black Isle communities have been rallying round setting up and running community larders and sharing sheds so that there is now one in nearly every village on the Black Isle and one in Dingwall.
"These have the twin benefits of cutting food waste and providing free food. In North Kessock we've also been able to facilitate things like the re-use of school uniforms.
"The cruel universal credit cut will devastate people who are already vulnerable including those in our area.
"They also often have increased transport costs due to living in a rural area and are off the gas grid so have higher heating costs already before fuel bill rises are brought in."
She pointed out more than 450,000 families in Scotland will see their household income cut by £20 per week from this week as Boris Johnson’s universal credit cut comes into effect.
It is feared the cut, equivalent to £1,040 per year, will devastate the most vulnerable, many of whom are already struggling to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Scottish Greens social security spokesperson Maggie Chapman MSP said: “People across the country are in dire financial straits. As household energy bills soar, national insurance is hiked, and runaway inflation means prices are outstripping wages it is shameful that Boris Johnson’s government has chosen this moment to inflict the largest cut to social security since the welfare state was first introduced.
“At a conference sideshow last weekend Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross laughingly claimed that his is the party of the working class. He has previously claimed they are the party of “family values”.
"Well, they’ve got a funny way of showing it. This ideological attack on Scotland’s working class will plunge thousands more working-class families into extreme poverty. Scotland can, and must, choose a different path.”
