SNP’s benefits free-for-all as Nicola Sturgeon demands end of welfare cap
THE SNP would demand a minority Labour government scrap the £26,000 annual benefits cap, Nicola Sturgeon revealed yesterday.
In another sign of her plans to exploit Ed Miliband, the First Minister said she wanted welfare payments to increase by more than inflation each year.
David Cameron has pledged to reduce the limit to £23,000 as the first act of a new Conservative government.
Labour heavily opposed the original cap and the comments from Ms Sturgeon, right, mark a further lurch to the Left as she seeks to steal its voters while hoping to form a power-sharing pact. Her remarks also contradict her predecessor, Alex Salmond, who two years ago described a cap as “a reasonable thing to have”.
With the polls pointing to a hung parliament, the SNP could hold the balance of power.
Its demands for helping Mr Miliband in No 10 already include a £180billion public spending spree, a hike in the minimum wage to £8.70 per hour, and a return of the 50p tax rate.
Ms Sturgeon’s latest call means there would be no limit on how much households could theoretically claim.
“We’ve got a situation where the poorest in our society are being plunged deeper into poverty, where in-work poverty is on the rise,” she told BBC Radio Scotland.
“So I don’t agree with the obsession of benefit caps.”
Ms Sturgeon declared that she wanted to look at “how we lift people out of poverty” and added: “We shouldn’t be holding benefit increases below the rate of inflation because if you do that, and you continue the freeze that we’ve seen, you drive people on the lowest incomes deeper into poverty.”
The poorest in our society are being plunged deeper into poverty, where in-work poverty is on the rise,
But Scottish Tory welfare reform spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “This shows the SNP is continuing to lurch to the Left.
“We want to see a welfare system that works, rewards graft and aspiration, and supports those who need it most. Instead, the SNP would prefer a free-for-all, which would encourage dependence on benefits and rip off the taxpayer in the process.”
The Conservatives are putting plans to overhaul the welfare state at the heart of their election manifesto, pledging £12billion of cuts in the first two years of the next Parliament.
Ms Sturgeon has already ruled out a deal with the Tories, while Labour leader Mr Miliband has said he will not form a coalition with the SNP.
However Mr Miliband has not dismissed a less formal arrangement.
Ms Sturgeon also said another independence referendum would not feature as part of a deal with Labour but the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent remained a “red line” issue. She said: “The general election is not about independence, it’s about giving Scotland a louder voice in Westminster, making sure that Scotland’s interests are protected and that the issues that matter to us are up the agenda.
“We’re not going to get a referendum as a result of this Westminster election and that’s not one of the issues we’d be seeking to secure.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy pledged a £175million fund aimed at “waging a war on poverty” during a visit to a food bank distribution centre in Edinburgh.
He said: “Our plan is wide-ranging, from capping energy bills and banning rip-off rents to setting up a Scottish anti-poverty fund to provide practical help.”
At a speech in Glasgow today, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls will claim a vote for the SNP will mean Mr Cameron is returned to power.
