Scotland and Wales have urged the UK Government to use Wednesday's Budget to bring bills down and scrap what they describe as punitive welfare policies. In a statement on 25 October, the Scottish Government said household bills were already hundreds of pounds higher than the UK Government had promised on taking office, and were set to grow further. It warned that failing to bring bills down substantially in the Budget would be, in its words, unforgivable.

Welfare changes demanded

The Scottish Government called for an end to the bedroom tax, the benefit cap and the young parent penalty in Universal Credit, together with action on the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates. It argues that these policies reduce support for households already facing high costs, and that removing them would ease pressure on family budgets.

Independence argument, attributed

The Scottish Government also said that if the UK Government would not act, Scotland should choose what it called an independence fresh start. That is the Scottish Government's political position, not a DailyByte endorsement, and it sits alongside the immediate Budget demands rather than replacing them. The UK Government has not yet responded in the statement reported here, and its Budget choices on Wednesday will show how far the devolved call has been met. For households, the key question on Wednesday is practical: whether energy and housing costs fall, and whether welfare support rises enough to be felt in weekly budgets. That outcome will be clearer once the Budget documents are published and analysed.

Sources: Scottish Government statement sets out the bills warning, the welfare demands and the independence argument.