Time for Fairness for MS Sufferers

This week I met with campaigners from the Multiple Sclerosis Society for Scotland to discuss the problems they currently face when applying for disability benefits.

The Tory Government introduced Personal Independence Plan (PIP) in 2013, which has resulted in tens of thousands of disabled people lost their benefits. Undoubtedly this shook Scotland to its core as 167,000 new claims made by Scottish applicants have been rejected since the introduction of PIP.

To make matters worse, 39,000 people who were originally entitled to disability benefits were reassessed for PIP in Scotland and completely lost their benefits. Clearly, the UK Government’s version of welfare reform has been disastrous as the introduction of PIP has led 30,000 people to appeal the process and challenge their decisions which have not only led to financial insecurity but also adds stress and anxiety.

I am particularly concerned by some of the abhorrent restrictions placed on individuals applying for PIP- especially through the “20-metre rule” that prevents those who can walk 20 metres from receiving the higher rate of mobility assistance. This directly discriminates against those with conditions like Multiple Sclerosis (MS) where their symptoms fluctuate. It shows once again how disconnected the Tory Government are from the needs of individuals with disabilities.

Meanwhile, the SNP are offering an alternative to those with disabilities by championing a society which promotes dignity and respect at its very core. This comes as social security is devolved to Scotland. The Scottish Government will recognise the challenges faced by people with disabilities and prioritise providing equal access to workplaces, ensuring the best support is on offer.

The recent Scottish Government budget only but confirms this. The budget is a landmark in the creation of Scotland’s new social security system. We are committing £3.4 billion in 2020/21 to go directly to the people of Scotland who need it the most.

The new system will be built completely from scratch - the most significant new public service to be created in Scotland since devolution. However, it means that by the end of this parliamentary term we will have introduced eleven benefits that will help over 800,000 people in the next year.

And by 2024 we will deliver 16 benefits and reach 1.8 million children and adults and pay out an estimated £4 billion. This is part of our commitment to ensure that our services are designed with the help of those that use it, to meet the needs of the people of Scotland now and in future.

We will also continue fighting to break down barriers that inhibit those with disabilities, through the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund which provides funding to equality organisations. Additionally, the SNP has accredited the charity Motability Scheme, to provide wheelchair accessible vehicles at affordable rates.

These services will all be implemented through Scotland’s new social security system- which will prioritise respect- something that the Tory Government have failed to do.

Farmers Jeer at Junior Minister Douglas Ross MP

Many Scottish farmers are beginning to raise concerns about post-Brexit policy changes and the impact it will have on our food standards in Scotland. Douglas Ross, the MP for Moray and new Junior Minister at the Scotland Office, learned this for himself as he was publicly jeered after he addressed the Scottish NFU AGM in Glasgow last Thursday.

According to Farmers Weekly, this happened when Ross suggested in answer to a question from a farmer that “clear labelling should be enough to deter consumers from buying cheap food imports”, brushing off any idea of keeping firmly and legally in step with the high food standards presently imposed by European law.

The same journal reported that immediately afterwards, Scottish NFU President Andrew McCornick responded by saying to the Minister:

“If we are going to allow products into this country that would be illegal for us to produce, that is not acceptable.”

McCornick has a strong point. As he added later, the UK Government would be selling farmers “down the river” if it allowed two sets of food standards to develop – one for imported food which would be substantially reduced and sell for lower prices, and one for locally produced food that would be more expensive.

The outcome of that in any free market is inevitable – the cheap and bad will chase out the more expensive and good, bankrupting many Scottish food businesses. Given how such businesses have grown in the past 13 years this simply cannot be allowed.

Ross’s declaration poses a severe, indeed existential, threat to many Scottish success stories and if that policy also extends to the entire food and drink industry then it will also decimate the whisky sector because some American producers are desperate to sell their product, not matured for a minimum of three years, into the UK market on the same shelves, and with the same name, as the real thing produced with generations of care and experience by craftsmen and women in Scotland and laid down in carefully stipulated conditions for that minimum period.

McCornick went on to say, publicly, to Ross that he and his fellow farmers were very anxious that “whoever is negotiating these trade deals” is made aware of these matters and added:

"We would like to see something with a bit of teeth in here to make sure that is not happening.”

The UK Government must finally honour the promises they have made for the past three and a half years about respecting the devolved settlement, and as a result ensure that the UK negotiating stance on the key issues in food and drink standards is reached only after detailed discussion with the Scottish Government, within whose devolved competence those matters actually lie.

As with genetically modified crops, we know that the highest standards are not a barrier to markets, but a vital attraction for our core and continuing customers. In other words, we know – unlike Ross and his Tory colleagues – the value of things, not just their price.