Liz Truss under pressure to increase benefits as Scots face 'choice between heating and eating'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Liz Truss is under mounting pressure to keep a UK Government pledge to raise benefits in line with inflation.The Tory Prime Minister has so far refused to commit to an uplift in Universal Credit from next April - despite warnings that some Scots are already being forced to choose between "heating and eating".It comes as anti-poverty campaigners called for action after a "heart-breaking" report revealed a "bleak picture of a society in crisis".The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that nearly one in five households on low incomes in Scotland have gone both hungry and cold this year.Kirsty Blackman, SNP spokeswoman on work and pensions, called on the UK Government to "wake up to reality" when it comes to the number of people left seriously struggling with the cost of living.The MP for Aberdeen North said: "Millions are facing the choice between heating and eating, more are in a situation where they cannot do either, and as the cost-of-living crisis continues, everyday more households are falling into, or further into, poverty and destitution."Liz Truss must recall Parliament immediately to commit to following through on the Tories’ promise to uprate benefits, as well as doubling the energy payment grant to £800, reinstating the Universal Credit uplift, increasing it to £25 and extending it to legacy benefits, and scrapping debt-inducing policies like the two-child cap, benefit cap and bedroom tax."She added that the JRF report was "a scathing of the UK Government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis".The MP continued: "Th Tories disgracefully suggested funding tax cuts for the wealthiest at the expense of low-income families, before rightly U-turning after widespread condemnation".Truss said in an interview