SNP have only demonstrated their own impotence on welfare reform

In the Scottish Government debate today on welfare reform, Jackson Carlaw has spoken out against the SNP and Labour's decision to vote against the proposed changes.

Speaking after the debate, Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Jackson Carlaw MSP said:

"By using their majority to reject the LCM on welfare reform today the SNP did nothing other than demonstrate their own impotence. Nothing done today will alter the course of the UK Welfare Reform Bill, regardless of the SNP's rhetoric.

"The vote today was about nothing more unusual than the conventional offer from the UK government to help the Scottish Government manage their responsibilities under reserved legislation. What the SNP have done is opportunistic, pointless and potentially reckless.

"The SNP and Labour joined together today, not to change the substance of the proposed welfare reforms, but through their action to raise the prospect of delays in the most vulnerable people in Scotland accessing these new benefits. In so doing, the Scottish Government is running the risk of being seen to play politics on the backs of the poor.

"Some SNP and Labour MSPs have been too busy scaremongering about the proposals contained in the Welfare Reform Bill to understand the need for these sensible and long overdue reforms. The purpose of this legislation is to remove the perverse incentives which currently exist in the welfare system. The lurid picture conjectured by some MSPs about the impact of these reforms is ill-judged and counter-productive.

"The establishment of a new parliamentary committee, not to scrutinise the work and responsibility of any Scottish Minister, but to maintain a running narrative on legislation for which the Scottish Parliament is not responsible, is nothing but political grandstanding."

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