SNP Manifesto 2019

STRONGER FOR SCOTLAND
A FAIRER SCOTLAND
While handing tax cuts to the wealthiest, the
Tories have cut support for the most vulnerable,
entrenching poverty, across the UK. By 2021,
the total loss to people in Scotland as a result is
estimated to reach around £3.7 billion per year.
As a result the Tories have also presided over the
introduction of the disastrous and discredited
Universal Credit system which has led to rising poverty,
rent arrears and an increase in the need for foodbanks.
It is time to end the deliberate targeting of the
poorest and most vulnerable by successive
Westminster governments.
SNP MPs will:
• demand the end of the two-child benefit cap,
the rape clause, and a halt to Universal Credit,
• demand an immediate end to the benefit
freeze, the abolition of the bedroom tax and the
introduction of a period of uplifts to benefits of
at least inflation,
• demand an end to the punitive benefits
sanctions regime,
• oppose any rise in the pensions age, and
• demand a UK wide benefit take-up campaign
so people are encouraged to get the help they
are entitled to, particularly pension credit.
Since 2014, the Scottish Government has spent
around £100 million a year to protect people from
the worst aspects of Tory policies that push people
into poverty and our MPs have consistently opposed
Tory austerity.
As an independent Scotland, we can build a fairer,
more inclusive, society - where everyone feels
valued, human rights are respected and we properly
support our most vulnerable people and tackle
poverty head on.
Respect and dignity in our social
security system
Scotland has shown that dignity and respect can
successfully be placed at the heart of a social
security system. With the limited powers we have, a
system has been built that does exactly that.
It is based on a simple set of principles we have
placed in law: that social security is a public service,
an investment in the people of Scotland and is itself
a human right, essential to the realisation of other
human rights.
Our system has been up and running for less than
18 months and has already helped more than
91,000 people with £190 million in vital financial
support.
The contrast with the UK system could not be more
stark. As a result of Tory cuts, people across the UK
are being pushed into debt, hardship and poverty.
The policies being pursued are harmful. Families
are no longer eligible for child tax credits for their
third or subsequent child. Thousands of families
in Scotland have already had their income cut and
when Universal Credit is fully rolled out this policy
will push a further 20,000 children into poverty.
In-work poverty has risen faster than employment,
with most parents of children in poverty in work.
SNP MPs have been at the forefront of the
campaign against the Rape Clause, which requires
women to prove they’ve been raped in order to
receive support for more than two children.
We believe it is utterly unacceptable for women
to have to disclose that they have been raped to
access UK Government benefits. SNP MPs will
continue to fight for the abolition of the two-child
cap and the rape clause.
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