Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has urged the First Minister to use the funding boost from the UK Government’s scrapping of the two-child cap to cut taxes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the policy would be scrapped from April next year when she announced her Budget on Wednesday, freeing up £155 million in Scottish Government cash already allocated to mitigate the cap ahead of setting its own budget in January.
First Minister John Swinney has previously said the money would be invested in other initiatives in an effort to bring down the rate of child poverty.
But at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Mr Findlay urged him to instead use the funding to bring down income tax.
“Given Labour’s decision to scrap the two-child cap, the SNP can now spend that money on something else, not on more benefits,” he said.
“There is another way – a common sense way that would reward hard work and help the economy.
“We believe that Scottish taxpayers deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money, they deserve a break from higher bills.
“So will John Swinney instead use that £150 million to instead cut income tax?”
Responding, Mr Swinney said the driving mission of his time as First Minister is to eradicate child poverty.
“I welcome the fact that the UK Government has taken the decision from April 1 to abolish the two-child cap that was put in place by the previous Conservative government,” he said.
“It is an atrocious intervention in the benefits system and I’m glad that my Government has shamed the Labour Party into acting on this particular issue.
“I have also set out on previous occasions that what the Scottish Government will do in the situation that we now face, is that the money that we’ve allocated to lift the two-child limit – which was an initiative taken by the SNP Government in the face of votes against such a proposal by Labour MPs in Westminster – that we would allocate that money to reduce child poverty even further than the reducing levels of child poverty in Scotland under this Government.
“When Mr Findlay attacks me for asking people of higher earnings to pay more in tax, I’m prepared to do that so that I can work to eradicate child poverty, which is the best thing for the future of our country.”
Responding to Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s question at FMQ’s on the First Minister’s acceptance of the UK Labour Party’s Budget released on Wednesday, Mr Swinney referred to the end of the two-child benefit cap.
He said: “I am glad that the Labour Party has realised that there’s an election coming in May and that possibly the face of a Labour Party driving up child poverty in the United Kingdom may not be a good look for the Labour Party in Scotland.
“But what I’m very pleased to say to the people in Scotland is that child poverty is falling in this country in Scotland because of the actions of an SNP Government.”
Mr Sarwar responded that the SNP could have ended the two-child benefit cap years ago.
He said: “The First Minister is delusional. The SNP had the power to end the two-child cap for eight years and did nothing. UK Labour scrapped it after 18 months. The sad truth is the SNP preferred the grievance.
“For two years John Swinney has argued for income tax to rise in England and Wales that would have led to a cut in Scotland’s budget based on the fiscal framework he himself negotiated. It proves he hasn’t got a clue. While he was arguing for Scotland’s budget to be cut I was arguing for more investment and the UK Labour Government delivered.”
