Across Scotland, bills will be dropping through the letterboxes of thousands of households this month.
Many people will be terrified to open them. Families will be finding their bags of food shopping considerably more expensive than it used to be.
And when pay packets drop this month people will find they have less money in their pockets.
The severity of the cost of living crisis we are currently living through is unlike anything most of us have known in our lifetimes.
It has been presided over by the Tories at Westminster, who have implemented policies which have lead to a reduction in people’s incomes for the past decade.
The UK government has compounded that this year by sitting on their hands as people across the country have to make the unthinkable decision on whether to feed themselves or heat their homes.
The Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s response to the crisis has been woefully inadequate.
He has done next to nothing to help people with the cost of energy bills, fuel prices, or food shortages – at the same time as shamefully cutting £20 a week from Universal Credit at a time when people need it the most.
SNP have used powers to improve lives
During the SNP’s time in government, we have used our limited powers to reduce household bills.
Taxpayers in Scotland get the best deal in the UK by paying lower income tax and saving an average of £600 on council tax bills, compared with England.
We have also built a social security system built on fairness, dignity and respect which has seen us introduce the Scottish Child Payment, described by leading charities as a ‘game-changing’ benefit.
🏴 We've introduced the Scottish Child Payment to tackle child poverty – and we've just doubled it.
🤝 By the end of 2022, we will raise it further to £25 – five times the amount that anti-poverty campaigners originally called for.
🗳 On May 5, #VoteSNP for a fairer Scotland. pic.twitter.com/2x8R9CVuSP
— The SNP (@theSNP) April 29, 2022
The payment has just been doubled to £20 a week and will be increased to £25 by the end of the year.
Just this week a leading poverty charity said that the Scottish Child Payment has stopped many families from going to foodbanks.
This is the real action we are taking in Scotland, in stark contrast to the Tories at Westminster, who are taking money out of the pockets of those who need it most.
Council elections are a chance to elect SNP councillors who will act for communties
We would like to go further to tackle the Tory cost of living crisis. But the majority of the economic levers still lie with the UK Government.
However, SNP councillors across Scotland will continue to do all they can to ease the pressure on household incomes.
These elections are your chance to elect SNP councillors who have your best interests at heart.
Councillors who will work for your local priorities to tackle the Tory-made cost of living crisis, support local services and stand up for your community.
On Thursday, people across Scotland can lock Tory politicians – who are completely distracted by Partygate – out of council chambers.
They can send them a message that we have had enough of the contempt they have shown for the rules we all followed to keep those closest to us safe.
On Thursday, please don’t sit this election out. Have your voice heard on the things that matter to you and elect SNP councillors who will have your priorities and local communities at the front and centre of their minds.
