#benefitcap: civil society must keep fighting unjust policies

Today, MPs at Westminster will vote to cap “welfare” spending. This will cover a range of benefits and tax credits - benefits which increasingly do not provide even the most basic protection for people in poverty. The benefits cap represents the final battle in a war on benefit claimants that has raged hard over the last few years, and certainly since the most recent recession began. The cap signifies that protecting the vulnerable, helping people to live full and empowered lives is no longer a political priority – it signifies that the benefits system and those who find themselves within it – whether in paid work or not – are fair game. It provides political justification for further benefit cuts.

How did this all happen?  Have we failed those in our society who are vulnerable?

How did this all happen?  Have we failed those in our society who are vulnerable? Have we failed those who are subject to the uncertainties of a turbulent and unstable labour market?  Does this mean, as a society, that we believe that people on benefits are truly feckless and lazy? The rhetoric and press coverage surrounding the welfare cap suggests that the Coalition Government’s war on the poor has been victorious – reinforced by the fact that Labour plan to support the cap. And yet, there could be a very different end to this story. This week saw the launch of the Common Weal’s latest paper on welfare. Written by the late (and much missed) Ailsa McKay and Willie Sullivan, “In Place of Anxiety” seeks to change the nature of the debate about welfare.  They argue that it makes good economic sense to have social security for all, to bring business into the fold and to pay decent wages, whilst truly protecting those who are unable to work. Ailsa and Willie seek to turn the debate on welfare spend round completely – instead of wasting billions subsidising a flawed housing market, and low wage jobs, we could work towards “..an interconnected approach to solve this problem of failing social security.” There seems to me to be a growing consensus in parts of civil society and amongst politicians in a number of political parties that we need to do things differently – this is something which SCVO has consistently argued for. I firmly believe that we can take a different path – a path which begins with the kind of vision which Ailsa had for a fairer, empowering and inclusive economy and society.  The debate about Scotland’s future has given us this opportunity. The worst outcome post September would be if nothing changes. Populist policies may have won today, but all of us who care – the third sector, churches, trades unions, individual activists and politicians alike - must make change happen. Today MSPs debate the third sector Poverty Campaign, “Scotland’s Outlook”. Let’s make today the start of something better.  Social security must never be about “them and us” – it’s about all of us.