Report: UK financial hardship set to continue

A new report published by the charity ‘Turn2Us’ shows that one in four people will have to survive another year of financial hardship as a result of the pandemic.

This latest report – published during Debt Awareness Week – adds to the mounting evidence as to why the UK government must make the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift permanent and extend it to legacy benefits.

The report reveals that one in five families are now struggling to pay bills, one in six are struggling to afford food, and one in seven are struggling to make rent or mortgage payments.

Prior to the pandemic, millions of families across the UK were struggling with debt and forced to turn to food banks as a result of Tory austerity policies. The coronavirus crisis has compounded these challenges and delivered another severe hit to people’s livelihoods and finances.

Rather than extending the uplift for only a few months – thus creating a cliff-edge for millions of families across the UK - Boris Johnson must make it permanent, extend it to legacy benefits, and abolish the five-week waiting time.

It's clear that Scotland faces a choice of two futures: the long-term damage of Tory austerity cuts at Westminster, or the opportunity to protect our place in Europe and build a strong and fair recovery as an independent country.

The issue at the election in May will be this: who has the right to decide what sort of country Scotland should be after the pandemic - people in Scotland or Boris Johnson?

With both votes SNP on 6 May, we can put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands - not Boris Johnson's.