WELCOME headlines from Westminster – or are they? Government to provide £500m in new grants for struggling households, starting this month! This month is when the same government is removing furlough support and removing the £20/week uplift to Universal Credit. So it may be new grants, but is it new money or are they only moving the goalposts?
I would suggest it is moving the goalposts, because this time the “new grants” will be means-tested, creating more administration costs, creating stress to the claimant, who will need to apply to their local authorities (local authorities that will ultimately carry the can for refusal of grants to claimant). As is always the case, some claimants will simply slip through the net or just be excluded. So is the “new grants” a false economy? Would it have made more economic sense to continue the £20/week uplift to Universal Credit? I think so.
Just like the “new grants” the £20/wk UC uplift was for struggling families, of which there are millions, struggling to meet the increases in energy costs with winter approaching and the increases in food costs due to Brexit. Even before winter, increased demand at food banks has been reported. This “new grant” from the Conservatives for struggling families is not all it is made out to be, and the vulnerable will once again pay the price!
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here