Skipping gaily by the worst ever doctors’ strike in history, not in Scotland, respecting the clearly prime importance of the Rangers job, Reporting Scotland leap excitedly first thing, ahead of their website, on the latest report on poverty.
The good news, for them, is that those progressive SNP policies are seemingly not working.
The latest report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Scotland titled Poverty in Scotland 2023 is full of assertions about the level of poverty in the present in Scotland yet the data on which it is based seems to be at least one, perhaps two (?), years old. The report really should make that clear but, based on an admittedly fast read, you only find that out by looking carefully at the graphs.
The report also is full of critical comments about the Scottish Government, telling it that it can still do more.
It is only down the page that we see:
the latest numbers are yet to fully reflect the impact of the Scottish Child Payment.
https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/poverty-scotland-2023
Why is that not admitted in the very first paragraph?
Nearly a year ago, the JRF noted:
The full rollout of the Scottish Child Payment is a watershed moment for tackling poverty in Scotland, and the rest of the UK should take notice. At £1,300 per child, per year it will be a welcome boost to family budgets that are stretched to breaking point already.
https://www.jrf.org.uk/press/scottish-child-payment-extension-watershed-already-showing-poverty-can-be-tackled-political#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20full%20rollout%20of%20the,stretched%20to%20breaking%20point%20already.
Notably, today’s report comes from the JRF Scotland branch/section(?) while the 2022 report above does not identify them as source.
The head of the Scottish team, Chris Birt, used to work for the Scottish Government as Head of the First Minister’s Policy and Delivery Unit. He has just shared a Scotsman front page on twitter.
Finally on:
The UK Government’s record on poverty is bad and has made things worse; the Scottish Government’s is better but could go much further.
it’s hard to see how they can tackle the issue of in-work poverty identified in the report as central when they cannot borrow to fund welfare, enforce a living wage on employers and nor can they increase Universal Credit.
Unsatisfactory and fodder for BBC Scotland.
Fail.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Rangers rangers rangers the sporting part of the propaganda war on Scotland where the shade of Scotlands blue in their red white and blue has been changed from its original colour to the englified evertonian blue.An extra 15 minutes to try and turn a defeat into a draw failed to get the result but it keeps the savages from hunting the ref.
JRT like other UK organisations that appoint a Scottish branch have a well paid britnat ensuring that Englands propaganda war on Scotland seeps into every crevice of life , they will lie and misrepresent with the aid of the chief misrepresenters organisation the BBC
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they do like a bit of a military tattoo prior to kick off down Ibrox way,
I mind when Rangers were called the light blues, not a term you hear so often these days.
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Why would any sensible person vote fora party that OPEN LIES
to its voters during the period of rule in Scotland
STEALING MONEY AND PASSING BACK TO ENGLISH PARLIAMENT
TO SPEND ON ENGLISH MATTERS
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The ”Poverty ” story -although not as bad as in England – will suffice for the BBC as we enter the last few days of the Rutherglen by-election .
As well as Poverty stories , we can look forward to inspiring tales of Ferries , Pigeons , Blue-tents etc.. license money well spent , says Sarwar !
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And, the SNP secret plans to close every Police Station in the Rutherglen constituency, according to the Sun at least.
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I don’t doubt that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) does important work on a crucial matter, poverty. But I agree with the thrust of the main blog post that sometimes its communications on matters in Scotland can be – let’s say, ‘problematic’.
The JRF is certainly ‘interested’ in Scotland. Searching its website reveals a series of ‘Poverty in Scotland’ reports, dating from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017! A similar search reveals ‘Poverty in Wales’ reports only from 2020 and 2018; we find ‘Poverty in Northern Ireland’ reports from 2022 and before that 2018. Why does Scotland get this attention? Is it because the situation in Scotland is exceptionally dire or for some other reason?
As best as we can ascertain, there are no ‘Poverty in England’ reports from the JRF. It does however publish UK poverty reports, the most recent being: JRF (26 January 2023) UK Poverty 2023: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK.
There are bits of this UK report about Scotland that seem to be underplayed or just plain missing in media coverage, continuing the context- and perspective-free journalism of the BBC and most other news organisations that ‘serve’ Scotland. Here are some examples.
On poverty rate by region (the JRF has a tendency to refer to Scotland as a ‘region’) – ‘Scotland has a lower rate of poverty (18%) than England (22%) and Wales (24%) and around the same rate as Northern Ireland (17%) (based on three-year averages of data).’
On poverty rate amongst those in work based on ‘Households Below Average Income, 2020/21’ data from the DWP, the JRF’s UK report notes that Scotland, with a poverty rate for this group of c. 13%, has the second lowest rate of all UK nations and regions: NI is just a little lower. Labour-run Wales at c. 16% has the fourth highest rate: NE England just across the Scotland-England border has at c. 19% the highest rate.
At least in its most recent UK report – but missed by media reporting in Scotland? – the JRF states (with my emphasis):
‘‘Divergence in policy across nations will PROBABLY DRIVE GREATER DISPARITY IN POVERTY RATES across the country. SCOTLAND HAS TAKEN DECISIVE ACTION in defining child poverty targets in legislation and ENHANCING THE BENEFITS SYSTEM with a Scottish child payment for those receiving qualifying benefits; this was introduced in February 2021 at £10 a week per child under the age of six; the value doubled in April 2022 to £20 a child and increased again in November 2022 to £25 when it was also rolled out to all eligible children under 16.
‘In response to both the pandemic and cost of living crisis, both Scotland and Northern Ireland haven taken STEPS TO LIMIT RENT INCREASES FOR SOCIAL RENTERS, while the Scottish Government is introducing MORE PROTECTIONS FOR PRIVATE RENTERS INCLUDING GREATER RENT CONTROLS AND EVICTION BANS.’
Positive acknowledgement in the JRF’s UK report: anyone spotted such positivity in reporting on the JRF’s latest Scotland report?
Given the nature of the JRF’s framing in its latest Poverty in Scotland report and the nature of the coverage of this report in the media, what level of awareness of the JRF’s RECENT POSITIVE MESSAGES about Scotland will the majority of voters in Scotland acquire? My concern is too few!
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The JRF’s UK report referred to in my earlier btl comment informs other aspects of Scotland’s political situation viz. how do Unionists expect a Scottish government and parliament with limited, devolved powers to counter, to buck the trends of the failing UK?
The JRF’s report on UK poverty states, firstly in the foreword: ‘The UK has entered 2023 at a moment of profound challenge. AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF PERSISTENTLY HIGH POVERTY RATES AND INCREASING LEVELS OF DEEP POVERTY ACROSS THE UK, both the Covid-19 pandemic and the historically high inflation rates that increased the prices of energy, food and other essentials in 2022 have hit poorer households the hardest.’
And more on the context in which the Scottish government and parliament operates: ‘We know THE CURRENT CHALLENGE IS NOT JUST THE RESULT OF SOME PASSING ‘COST OF LIVING CRISIS’. IT COMES INSTEAD ON THE BACK OF YEARS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL FAILURE. FOR A DECADE AND A HALF WE HAVE SEEN NO MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN LIVING STANDARDS, ESPECIALLY FOR PEOPLE ON LOWER INCOMES. OVER 20 YEARS WE HAVE SEEN VERY DEEP POVERTY RISE.
‘Over decades our country has become much wealthier – but this wealth is tightly concentrated, with rates of homeownership declining and inheritance becoming more important to life chances.
‘We have SOME OF THE LARGEST GEOGRAPHICAL INEQUALITIES IN THE WESTERN WORLD. Improvements in life expectancy have stalled and for some are going backwards, while we see deeply worrying trends in mental health.’
And there is more crucial context: ‘… THE BASIC RATES OF BENEFITS ARE INADEQUATE AND DO NOT ALLOW RECIPIENTS TO MEET THEIR ESSENTIAL NEEDS. Resetting basic benefit rates and ensuring that they cannot be brought below these rates through the repayment of advances or other deductions is a critical step to protecting people who need benefits, not just during this cost of living crisis but whenever anyone needs social security support.’
And: ‘It is also necessary to look more long-term at what getting to a United Kingdom free of poverty would take. This means EXAMINING THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS, be that the labour market, the housing market, the social security system, or how we organise family life or care, to see how these can be made to work in the interests of poorer households so that there is a positive vision beyond simply getting through the current recession.’
So long as Scotland is within the UK, these BUILDING BLOCKS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS will be shaped and assembled – or left as they are – very largely based on decisions of Westminster governments which in turn will be chosen by voters in England.
How on earth do the people writing the JRF’s Poverty in Scotland report expect a government and parliament with such constrained powers and limited agency, to overcome fully, to buck the trend of now deeply engrained failures of the UK state?
The JRF’s analyses reveals that England’s government, a government with the unlimited powers of a independent nation-state, is failing to address poverty: Scotland’s record is substantially better. However, the JRF in its communications on Scotland can seem reluctant to confirm this: BBC Scotland and other media organisations keen on negativity about Scotland are no doubt relieved.
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