11th July 2021: A Week in Parliament

Recovery Café

I was pleased to get out and visit The Hut, which is operating as a drop-in café by Recovery Enterprises, Scotland. While it is good to see the work being done by volunteers, it was equally alarming to hear how they have had to help people with food during the pandemic. It is a real injustice when people cannot afford to feed their families. Unfortunately, it is a sign of just how unequal our society is. We need the economy to be rebalanced and wealth more fairly distrusted. Worse, the pandemic has increased the wealth gap, and the richest have continued to get richer.

Pension Rates

Analysis from the House of Commons library has shown that pension rates in the UK are the worst in Europe when considered as a percentage of the average working wage. This is outrageous – given we are repeatedly told that one of the biggest benefits of Scotland being part of the United Kingdom is the shared aspect of the UK pensions. Of course, Scotland contributes its fair share anyway, but it is an eye-opener to have it confirmed by research how relatively poor the UK pension actually is. It is little wonder we have pensioners living in poverty. By default, having pension credit as a top-up in itself is an admission that the state pension is inadequate. Additionally, only 60% of those who are eligible actually claim it. So, please, if you think you or a family member is eligible for pension credit, check out the criteria and make a claim. It is bad enough to be possibly struggling financially but even worse if there is assistance there that is not being utilised.

UK Growth

Further analysis from the House of Commons library has shown that for 21 years in a row, the UK has had the lowest growth rate in northwest Europe. The UK is behind all thirteen neighbouring countries, including Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, France and Germany. The analysis, using data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), shows per person the UK is £5,062 less wealthy than the average of all countries in northwest Europe, and £15,739 less wealthy than those independent countries with a population similar or smaller than Scotland. The data also shows that the wealth gap between the UK and our European neighbours has grown worse over the past two decades. It is worrying that the UK economy has been shown to underperform so poorly compared to other European countries for such a consistent period. It also shows that all the talk of new trade deals post-Brexit is only a sticking plaster for this underperformance.