The need to abolish the hated two-child cap on benefits has never been clearer. Report after report has shown this spiteful Tory policy does nothing but push hard-up families further into poverty.
Keir Starmer claimed his Labour Government couldn’t afford to scrap the law across the UK. That led to the SNP government announcing it would mitigate the cap in Scotland.
It was to John Swinney’s credit that decision was reached. Mitigating the cap – by paying additional benefits to families with more than two children – will not come cheap.
It will force the Scottish Government to find savings from elsewhere in its budget. But reversing the Tory policy is now proving difficult to implement.
The benefits system is split between both governments and the SNP ministers want to guarantee that ending the cap does not stop people receiving benefits from the DWP.
It is understood dialogue remains ongoing about Westminster legislating to assist a devolved policy.
Holyrood insiders believe the administrative wrangling means the two-child cap will still be in place in Scotland by next year.
It’s now imperative that both Holyrood and Westminster work together to find a way round the impasse.
It’s in no one’s interest that bureaucracy delays the end of one of the most shameful pieces of legislation ever passed by MPs.
Ending the two-child cap would lift an estimated 20,000 children in Scotland out of poverty.
It’s time for the UK Government to work with counterparts in Edinburgh to ensure a solution can be found.
Pressure point
Paramedics are used to working in high-pressure situations. Keeping cool under strain while trying to save lives is a skill not everyone has.
They are used to facing life-or-death situations every day. But a survey of ambulance crews by the Unison trade union has revealed the kinds of additional stress that staff face.
The dire state of overcrowded A&E wards means ambulances cannot always discharge their patients in a timely fashion. It leads to queues of ambulances waiting outside hospitals.
But the reality of this situation is some people die before they even make it to hospital. It’s a tragedy for all involved. Paramedics are limited in how they can treat people in an ambulance.
Handing them over to a hospital as quickly as possible is a vital part of the healthcare system. The crisis in our A&E wards is well known. It must be resolved before more lives are needlessly lost.