Poverty, food and jobs crisis needs socialist action

Matt Dobson reports

The results of the latest poverty study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation are an utter condemnation of the pro- capitalist policies of not just the Tories but New Labour before them and the SNP in devolved government.

It’ll come as no surprise to working class people in Scotland that poverty has increased in the last decade since the Great Recession. JRF shows that Scotland’s poverty rate is currently 19.2% compared to 17.8% over the three year period from 2011/12 to 2013/14.

The report states: “Three of the key factors constraining low-income families’ options in the labour market include wanting to work more hours but being unable to find the work (underemployment), a lack of affordable and flexible childcare, and inadequate transport”.

As well as the areas blighted by neoliberal deindustrialisation such as the West of Scotland and Dundee there are significant increases even in more rural Scotland, showing the scale of inequality, low wages and sections of the middle class being pushed into poverty.

The Covid-19 pandemic and onset of a double dip recession has seen a huge increase in welfare benefit claims. The Glasgow Herald (13/1/21) points out “New Jobcentre Plus figures revealed that the claimant count in Scotland, which includes those on Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance, has soared from 111,280 in November, last year to 210,750 in November, 2020.

It means that even without the government’s job retention scheme around six per cent of Scotland’s working population is relying on state benefits. And Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has said that their research has revealed that one in three of those who seek help from them about Universal Credit are actually in work.”

Working-class people face a major hit on income with the prospect of the extra £20 universal credit payment being withdrawn this spring.

mass unemployment looming

Recent Office for National Statistics figures show mass unemployment looming and redundancies increasing in Scotland, particularly in retail, hospitality, manufacturing and oil.

The rate of redundancies is highest since 2009, the aftermath of the global economic crisis. Around 30,000 people were made redundant in the three months to October 2020 – up from 5,000 between May and July.

200,000 workers in Scotland are still on the job retention scheme, effectively suffering a pay cut.

The scale of social deprivation is being dramatically shown by food and fuel poverty scandal. Food banks in Kinross, Perthshire report a ten-fold increase in usage.

In Glasgow, as many 78,000 have accessed the Fareshare Glasgow Food Banks on a weekly basis. The Glasgow Times reports Fareshare distributed 5 million meal portions in 2020 compared to 1 million in 2019 across the West of Scotland.

SNP politicians have joined in with the justified mass anger at the private vulture Chartwells profiteering from starvation food packages to poor families and children exposed by anti-poverty campaigner and footballer Marcus Rashford.

Rashford is widely seen as a more effective political opposition to the Tories than the craven right wing Starmer Labour leadership.

But the figures above show the SNP government is also utterly failing to defend working-class people from the ravages of capitalism’s failures over the pandemic and economic crisis.

The Scottish government’s policies such as the £10 extra benefit for children and the public subsidy to the Fuel Bank Foundation, which gives grants to people on prepayment meters (effectively a subsidy to the profits of rip off energy companies), are not an effective response to the Tories agenda of making us pay for the crisis.

There will be council tax increases and rent rises to come, higher bills from energy companies and internet providers, rising food costs as well as attacks on workplace terms and conditions.

Only fighting socialist policies could effectively combat poverty and social crisis in Scotland.

There is colossal wealth in society that utilised in a democratic, socialist economy controlled by the working class could wipe out the need for food banks and poverty charities. 

1% of the Scottish population own 50% of the wealth. According to Forbes, 53 of the UK’s billionaires saw their “worth” leap by 14.3% (£26.3 billion) to approximately £211 billion over first six months of 2020. 

Soaring stock markets – especially tech shares – as well as government bailouts and “free money” for the bosses have driven an expansion of wealth for the capitalist class.

Oil and gas workers face unemployment and attacks on terms and conditions, meanwhile cowboy bosses like Jim Ratcliffe, the Grangemouth trade union buster, has seen his wealth increase by half to £13.6 billion after converting part of his business to produce hand sanitiser.

socialist stand

Socialist Party Scotland members are standing as candidates as part of the The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in the May 2021 election on these fighting socialist policies. 

• Raise the minimum wage now to £12 an hour. Build trade union struggle for a living minimum wage if £15 for all workers

• An immediate 15% pay rise for NHS and care workers and pay rises for all workers

• Raise welfare benefits in line with wages.

• Scrap zero hour contracts, sanctions and universal credit

• For a fully funded social security system based on the right to work or full maintenance

• The Scottish government should use its income tax powers to tax the richest in society

• Councils and the Scottish government should set fighting no cuts budgets by utilising all financial mechanisms to hold off austerity cuts and taking emergency measures such as retaining the extra universal credit payment and mitigating benefit sanctions

• Build a mass campaign to demand the billions stolen in austerity by the Tories and for a second independence referendum

• Bring the major corporations that dominate the economy into democratic public ownership under working class control and management

• Fight for an independent socialist Scotland and a voluntary and democratic confederation with a socialist England, Wales and Ireland

• For a new mass workers’ party based on the trade unions armed with fighting socialist policies