Cost of Living

Over the last year, we have increased the national living wage—a pay rise for 200,000 of the lowest-paid Scots—delivered a generational upgrade to workers’ rights, had five interest rate cuts, and expanded the warm home discount scheme, meaning one in five Scottish households are getting £150 off their bills. But we need to go further and faster, and the Chancellor has pledged targeted action to bring down inflation further.

The Government do indeed need to go further. This morning, the Scottish Government laid the regulations necessary to mitigate the two-child cap, brought in by Labour and carried on by Labour. Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is falling, and it is the only part of Great Britain with a non-Labour Government. Does the Secretary of State recognise the huge role played by the Scottish child payment in tackling poverty head on? Does he agree that Labour in Cardiff Bay and in Westminster should follow the Scottish Government’s lead?

I was part of a Government that saw child poverty fall significantly. I believe that this Government will be true to that commitment. I hope there may be more for the Chancellor to say in the coming minutes, but be assured that we welcome all measures that reduce child poverty after many years in which, tragically, we have seen poverty rise.

In the 16 months since the King’s Speech, when Labour MPs were whipped to vote against scrapping the two-child cap, how many children have been pitched into poverty as a result of the Government’s refusal to scrap the cap?

We have always been clear that we wanted to take action on the basis of sound public finances. That is why it is a Labour Government that have been willing to take difficult and challenging steps. I am old enough to remember the criticism from those on the SNP Benches after 1997, and we went on to lift a record number of kids out of poverty. That is why I welcome our Chancellor’s approach.

It is just over 500 days since this Government came to power, and the policies of the Chancellor and the Government have been a disaster for the north-east of Scotland with cost of living problems, whether that is the impact of national insurance hikes on jobs and investment, the family farm tax on the agricultural sector, the energy profits levy, which is killing jobs in the offshore sector, or the raw deal offered to our fishing industry with the coastal growth fund. Can the Secretary of State tell me and the House whether we should expect the Chancellor to fix the mess that she has made, or will the Budget be another failure for the people of the north-east—

Order. Too long.

It will not surprise the House that I am not going to prejudge announcements that the Chancellor will be making from this Dispatch Box in just a few minutes, but I certainly do not recognise the characterisation that the hon. Gentleman has offered of the first 15 or so months of this Labour Government. It was always going to take more than 18 months to undo the damage of the last 18 years. We have already seen 200,000 Scots lifted out of poverty and record rises in the national minimum wage, and that work will continue.

This Government are embarking on delivering the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, working to provide income security for many in my constituency. I am not surprised that Conservative peers are blocking that in the other place, but will my right hon. Friend share the shock of my constituents that the Liberal Democrats and now Green Members are also doing that?

I would like to say that I am shocked and surprised, but very little that the Liberal Democrats do can shock or surprise me. The truth is that the Employment Rights Bill is expected to benefit people in the most deprived areas of the country by up to £600 in lost income from the hidden costs of insecure work. That is exactly the work that we as a Labour Government are called to tackle.

What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the impact on Scotland of the increase to the national living wage?

Only this morning there were discussions in the Cabinet involving me and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I pay tribute to the work that she and others in government have done to ensure both that upgrade to workers’ rights and that pay rise for the 200,000 poorest paid Scots.

Will the Secretary of State tell the House by how much household energy bills have risen since Labour came to power?

I hope we will be hearing more about energy bills later this afternoon.

The Secretary of State clearly does not know, so I will help him: energy bills have risen by £187 for the average household, with more rises due on the way. He might also want to know that today is National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day. Scotland is one of the most energy-rich parts of Europe, with our renewables and hydrocarbons that the Treasury has benefited from over the years. Does he get the frustration at this Government when it comes to the cost of living on fuel poverty, food prices and child poverty, due to Tory policies that they have maintained?

This Government have taken action and will continue to take action. In his rather partial account, the hon. Member missed out around 530,000 households in Scotland that are already benefiting from £150 off their energy bills this winter, and I hope we will hear more today.