For immediate release:

RUTHERGLEN LOSES £1.4 MILLION BECAUSE OF TORY WELFARE CUTS

Freedom of Information figures supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions have shown that Rutherglen and Hamilton West has lost out on £1.4 million because of UK Government cuts to disability benefit.

The information – requested by investigative news outlet The Ferret – shows the number of people who have lost out on social security benefits following the change from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payments. Rutherglen and Hamilton West is in the top ten Scottish constituencies hit by the reforms.

The welfare cuts – taking a total of £56 million away from communities across Scotland – have hit the poorest people hardest, leaving vulnerable and disabled people across Rutherglen without enough money to live off.

Commenting, MSP for Rutherglen Clare Haughey said:

“It is absolutely devastating that Tory welfare cuts have taken £1.4 million out of our communities. This really hits home at how disastrous these cuts have been for people across Rutherglen – robbing our society and vulnerable people of the money they were entitled to until the Tories decided that they no longer were.

“It is shameful that those most in need of support in Scotland have lost over £56 million under this UK Government.

“While the Scottish Government is busy setting up a new social security agency with dignity and respect at its heart, figures such as these continue to emerge showing just how damaging UK Government welfare cuts are for the people of Rutherglen and Cambuslang. Only with full powers over social security can Scotland treat all those in need of support with the respect they deserve, not the cruelty they face under this UK government.”

ENDS

Notes:

Revealed: £56m cuts to disability payments hit Scotland’s poorest hardest: https://theferret.scot/56m-cuts-disability-scotland-poorest/

Date published: 6th June 2018