Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Kezia Dugdale vows ending ‘national scandal’ of child poverty would be at heart of Labour government

Kezia Dugdale (PA)
Kezia Dugdale (PA)

SCOTTISH LABOUR leader Kezia Dugdale has highlighted her plans to tackle child poverty, as she accused the SNP and Tories of being too focused on division to address the issue.

The party’s manifesto pledges an increase in the minimum wage and a boost for family benefits.

Ms Dugdale branded the issue a national scandal and promised Labour would put ending child poverty at the heart of government.

Her party’s proposals include introducing a £10 minimum wage, increasing Child Benefit by £240 a year by the end of decade, and doubling the Sure Start maternity grant to £1,030.

Labour would also introduce a twice a year “seasonal grant” for the poorest families and build 60,000 new homes, including 45,000 for social rent.

Ms Dugdale said: “Labour’s child poverty manifesto is a bold blueprint to put ending child poverty at the heart of government. It means making Holyrood’s social security powers work, asking the richest to pay their fair share to invest in public services, and boosting wages.

“Scotland has suffered from a housing crisis for years and the result of that is families trapped on waiting lists and 70,000 more children pushed beneath the breadline. That’s why we urgently need to build more homes.

“Using Holyrood’s powers, Labour would increase Child Benefit to lift thousands of youngsters out of poverty, and a minimum wage of £10-an-hour will end the scandal of in-work poverty.

“The SNP and the Tories are both focused on dividing our society – be it through an unwanted and unnecessary second independence referendum in the case of Nicola Sturgeon, or further austerity with Theresa May.”

SNP candidate for Edinburgh East Tommy Sheppard said: “With less than a week to the election the best thing people can do to stop one million more children being pushed into poverty is to elect strong SNP voices to stand firm against continued Tory cuts and demand an alternative to the Tories’ attacks on households.

“SNP MPs will support low-paid workers by ending the benefits freeze and linking tax credit increases to the cost of living. We will also, unlike Labour, abolish the welfare cap which underpins the two child limit and abhorrent rape clause.”

Using Holyrood’s powers, the SNP administration plans to increase the Sure Start grant and make two further payments to families with young children to help them at “key times”, Mr Sheppard added.