More than 1 MILLION children would have been lifted out of poverty in England if they had been led by a party with the values and the policies of the SNP

Our new voters don’t care about child poverty, so leave it.

Professor John Robertson OBA

In the Guardian today, there is, at least some attempt to expose the scale of child poverty in England with the term ‘tens of thousands’ but it is still concealing the awful truth.1

According to the Guardian in March 2025:

The poverty figures showed that in Scotland 23% of children were in poverty, compared with 31% in England and Wales.2

From the 2021 Census, 12.6 million dependent children lived in households.3

So, 31% of 12 600 000 is 3 900 000! Had England been run by a party like the SNP, 8% of those 12.6 million, 1 008 000, would have been saved.

Yes, I know the 23% is unacceptable too but the powers to eradicate are limited by the UK.

Sources:

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/may/23/no-10-delays-child-poverty-plan-despite-tens-of-thousands-more-hardship
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/27/children-poverty-government-benefit-welfare-cuts-uk
  3. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/childreninfamiliesinenglandandwales/census2021

5 thoughts on “More than 1 MILLION children would have been lifted out of poverty in England if they had been led by a party with the values and the policies of the SNP”

  2. And from earlier comment – Almost 24 hours ago the Graun published this https://archive.ph/UnK3Y

    ” The Guardian has been told that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, have pushed the (child poverty) strategy back to at least the autumn budget and possibly later. Reeves is understood to be concerned about the cost implications while McSweeney has questioned the political benefits “

    Just dwell on those bits in bold and realise that is what purports to be UK government today, feigning “deep concern” over ‘child-poverty’ whilst juggling made up ‘fiscal rules’ and political advantage, not really so different to Covid and ” let the bodies pile high in the street “….

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      1. I do not have the word skills do it justice, but Paul’s latest ” We are governed by people who believe that normal human standards of compassion, empathy, and care do not apply to them ” in https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2025/05/24/scottish-child-poverty-can-only-be-eliminated-with-independence/comment-page-1/#comment-217454 fairly summarised it.

        There’s almost nothing left of what the Labour party once stood for, yet what grinds most is the blatant hypocrisy, expressing pride over what Attlee achieved whilst systematically dismantling it.

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  3. Scotland in Union means Poverty in Union?

    The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has this on its web site: ‘Poverty: facts and figures’. It notes: ‘Poverty risk also varies across UK nations and regions, with the highest rates in the West Midlands, inner London and North West England, and considerably lower rates in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eastern England.’

    On May 21, responding to the UK Work and Pensions Secretary’s speech that day, the Chief Executive of CPAG said:

    ‘The elephant in the room today was the two-child limit which is pushing child poverty to a new high on this government’s watch and leaving children without the life chances the Secretary of State wants for them. Unless government scraps the policy in its forthcoming child poverty strategy, the number of kids in poverty will reach 5 million by the end of this parliament and a generation of children will have been betrayed. If ‘fairness, equality and opportunity’ are what matters to the Secretary of State, the two-child limit must be removed and ministers must step back from disability benefit cuts which can only mean more child poverty.’ (my emphasis)

    The Scottish Government agrees with the CPAG and is working to mitigate the worst impacts of Westminster policies that damage the social safety net, first under the Tories and now under a Labour government.

    In the New Statesman (May 21 ) there is an article headed ‘Child poverty is a scar on our national conscience’ written by the British Labour Party’s sage in North Britain, Gordon Brown.

    He rails against the present extent of child poverty; he lists a range of people who like him are arguing for action to sort it; and he identifies causes and then actions that could/should be taken by the government in Westminster to fix it, including how to fund these.

    However, despite inaction and delay by Labour in Westminster (see below), Mr Brown is loyal to party to his core, stating: ‘To their credit, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves set up the Child Poverty Review to redeem the Labour promise “to reduce child poverty this parliament” and to end the need for reliance on food banks.‘

    Credit? Typically, Mr Brown makes ZERO mention of the tangible mitigating actions and supportive policy position of the Scottish Government – the Bain Principle is alive and well amongst the British Labour Party elite in North Britain even on something as important as reducing child poverty!

    Source: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/society/child-poverty/2025/05/child-poverty-is-scar-our-national-conscience

    What will Mr Brown’s reaction be to this extract from the Guardian given in an earlier btl post in this thread: ‘The Guardian has been told that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, have pushed the (child poverty) strategy back to at least the autumn budget and possibly later. Reeves is understood to be concerned about the cost implications while McSweeney has questioned the political benefits.‘ Not for the first time will he ignore a rebuff from his party’s current leadership and simply move on to another issue, still a Labour loyalist and unionist?

    Scotland in Union and Poverty in Union: time for ‘traditional Labour voters’ in Scotland to take stock! If they are scunnered with the British Labour Party in government in Westminster with its huge enabling – but wasted majority in the context of addressing issues such as child poverty – will they opt to vote for Reform UK because they prioritise Scotland in Union above all else and therefore tolerate unnecessary Poverty in Union?

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