SNP manifesto: what it means for families

by the SNP
Posted on
7 years ago
2 min read

We have now launched our manifesto for the General Election on 8 June. It sets out how we will ensure that there is strong opposition to a re-elected and increasingly hard line Tory government at Westminster.

Here’s how strong SNP voices will stand up for families at Westminster.

 

  • We will demand an end to austerity cuts that are pushing families across the UK into poverty. Our responsible plan will repair UK public finances and release £118 billion for public spending over the next Parliament.

 

  • To protect household incomes we have frozen the Basic Rate of Income Tax in Scotland and SNP MPs will also back a freeze on National Insurance contributions and VAT across the UK.

  • We will back a transition over the next parliamentary term towards payment of the real Living wage for all adults above the age of 18. This will mean a new single adult rate and will see the UK minimum wage to rise to the £10 real Living Wage.

 

  • We will press for the abolition of the cap that restricts Child Tax Credits to the first two children and the removal of the family element of Universal Credit. And we will continue to oppose the ruthless and inhumane ‘Rape Clause’.

 

  • We will call for the abolition of the Tories cash freeze on benefits, instead we will support the annual uprating of all benefits by at least CPI inflation.

 

  • We will call on the Tory government to match the Scottish Government’s ambition by reintroducing UK-wide income based targets to end child poverty.

 

  • With inequality set to increase to levels last seen under Margaret Thatcher, we will urge the UK government to work with devolved administrations to establish a Poverty and Inequality Commission to provide expert advice on tackling poverty.

 

  • We will abolish the hated Bedroom Tax in Scotland completely, when we have the powers to do so, and continue to demand that the Bedroom Tax is scrapped across the UK.

  • We will support the re-instatement of the work allowance – the amount you are allowed to earn before Universal Credit begins to be withdrawn – to all claimants.

 

  • The Tory government has introduced new charges for parents seeking support from a former partner through the Child Maintenance Service. The SNP will demand an end to this cruel and callous tax on child support.

 

  • We will demand the reversal of cuts to Bereavement Payments and Widowed Parents’ Allowance, which will make families that have lost loved ones worse off.

 

  • The UK is currently one of the few countries in the world not to have a clear legal right to breastfeed at work, SNP MPs will press the UK government to change this.

 

  • SNP MPs will push the UK government to ensure all workplaces provide information to new parents on their rights when they return to work and to enforce those rights.

 

Read the manifesto in full here.