The UK Government has been accused of turning a deaf ear to "stark warnings" over a looming poverty crisis and calls to scrap the benefits cap.
Anti-poverty campaigners this week launched a 'Scrap the Cap' initiative, calling on Downing Street to end the ceiling on state benefits in the face of the rising cost of living.
The campaign comes after a survey of people on low incomes and charity organisations found that the policy is causing widespread harm and hardship.
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More than 40 organisations including the Church of Scotland, homeless charity Shelter, and foodbank organisation The Trussell Trust, have backed the move by the Poverty Alliance.
They launched the action after a survey of low income households showed many believe the benefits cap is pushing them into poverty, with the majority of respondents saying that in a normal month, they do not have enough money to cover basic household expenses such as rent, utilities and food.
Households also reported significant impacts on their mental health, as well as being forced into using food banks and borrowing money from friends and family to make ends meets.
And politician Mhairi Black says Renfrewshire residents are also caught in the poverty trap and face having to choose between heating and eating.
Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Mhairi blasted the government's lack of action amidst rising inflation, saying: "Time after time the UK Government fail to listen to the stark warnings from poverty charities and experts. The reality is that people in Renfrewshire cannot afford food, they cannot afford to heat their homes and they cannot afford to pay their bills and the rent. The benefit cap should have been lifted long ago."
"Millions of people have been dragged into poverty while Boris Johnson and an array of slithering Tories continue on festering away in corruption with no thought for their actions or the people their decisions are impacting. The UK Government need to scrap the benefit cap as well as reverse the cuts to universal Credit, introduce a low-income energy support package and a real living wage for workers."
The SNP policitian at Westminster, added: "People are coming home from work and having to choose between putting the heating on or getting something in for dinner. That should not be happening. Only with the full powers of an independent country will we be able to stop the UK Government from plunging more and more people in this country into poverty."
Organisations who responded to the Poverty Alliance survey also reporter a range of difficulties faced by people they support, including families who have been evicted, fallen into problem debt or who have kept their children off school because they cannot afford the associated costs of school.
Campaigners say the cap - which places a limit on the amount of means-tested benefit payments an individual or family can receive - locks people into poverty.
Figures show that lone parents, who are overwhelmingly women, and people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds are disproportionately affected.
They are calling for the urgent removal of the benefit cap – particularly in the face of the ongoing cost of living crisis - and say it would loosen the grip of poverty of thousands of people’s lives in the UK.
Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance said: "Right now, people across this country are facing a cost-of-living crisis. For families and individuals affected by the benefit cap, who are already trapped in the grip of poverty, this crisis is even more acutely felt.
"The way the benefit cap is designed means that those who need the highest level of support from the benefit system - such as lone parents with young children, larger families, and people who are not able to work – are the most likely to be affected.
"The vast majority of these households are exempt from looking for work, meaning they are simply trapped in poverty’s grip, unable to increase their income through employment. This is an injustice that goes against everything our social security system should do."
And he called on Westminster to take action, saying: "By scrapping the benefit cap, the UK Government would loosen the grip of poverty on the lives of families across the country. It’s just the right thing to do."
Almost 6,500 Scottish households are affected by the benefits cap and fears are rife that those on low incomes and pensioners will be amongst those worst hit by rising costs including food and a looming gas and electricity hike.
Rising inflation and associated increased living costs have already put the squeeze on pockets and left groups such as pensioners with real terms decreases in the value of their income.
Polly Jones, Head of Scotland at the Trussell Trust, said: "Lack of income is the key driver of food bank use and we know the benefit cap is forcing many to make impossible choices. No one should be forced to choose between feeding their family or heating their home. The benefit cap is unfair, it’s unjust and it’s forcing people into further hardship.
"We’re backing the Scrap the Cap campaign because we want to see a social security system that ensures everyone can afford the essentials."
But the Department of Work and Pensions said the benefits cap sits at a salary equivalent of £24,000.
A DWP spokesperson said: "The benefit cap, up to the equivalent salary of £24,000, balances fairness for taxpayers with providing a vital safety net, while our Plan for Jobs is helping more people into and to progress in work.
"Moving into employment significantly increases the likelihood of a household not being affected by the cap. Meanwhile, the Scottish Parliament has significant welfare powers and can top up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits in areas of devolved responsibility."
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