Margaret McDougall, Scottish Labour MSP for west of Scotland campaign recently told local media that "More than 400,000 people across Scotland earn less than the living wage" and that "Independent experts say these changes will leave the poorest families in Scotland more than £500 worse off. These figures show how wrong it was for the SNP and the Tories to vote against Labour's plans to extend the real living wage to more low paid jobs like cleaners, carers and hospitality staff."
This prompted Jamie Greene, Conservative candidate for Cunninghame North, also in the West of Scotland region to respond to the claims.
He told reporters "We want to move to a high wage, low tax economy, not one where people are dependent on welfare. That is why the UK Government announced the new living wage in the recent budget, which would significantly increase the pay of all the people Margaret McDougall is talking about. Welfare reform is never popular nor a sure vote winner, but I believe it is the right thing to be responsible about how we spend taxpayers money"
Mr Greene added "Instead, our political opponents like her would rather see people languish on benefits, while those in genuine need miss out because resources are so stretched. We want to see hard work rewarded, and that's why the living wage announcement was made, and that's why this UK Government has helped create more that 170,000 new jobs in Scotland since 2010. Real jobs, lifting people out of welfare and back into work. Labour should not forget that their mismanagement of the UK economy left us struggling to help those needed it most and left a legacy of lifetime dependency on welfare, with people trapped in the poverty cycle for generations in Scotland.
I grew up in a once Labour stronghold in Greenock in difficult circumstances, I don’t need a lecture from Scottish Labour on benefit reform. Jeremy Corbyn seems quite happy with the idea that people in the place where I grew up should earn more in "out of work" benefits than those who get out of bed each morning to go to work.
Why doesn’t Labour instead join me in asking our SNP controlled government in Holyrood what plans they have for further devolved welfare and how they propose to change income tax in the UK to pay for their equally bottomless-pit welfare plans?"