Michael Marra, a candidate in the Scottish Labour leadership contest, has backed the creation of a cross-party commission to ensure Scotland meets its child poverty targets. Marra said political parties had to work together, similar to the cooperation after the independence referendum, to bring more powers to Holyrood.
Relative child poverty currently stands at 21% in Scotland, lower than the level south of the border. However, experts believe the SNP Government will struggle to hit the statutory target of reducing child poverty to 10% by 2030.
Proposal modelled on Smith Commission
Marra, who previously worked for anti-poverty charity Oxfam, told the Record that slashing poverty rates would be a key priority if he succeeds Anas Sarwar next month. His plan for a cross-party body is modelled on the Smith Commission, which was set up after Scots rejected independence in 2014.
Pro-independence parties like the SNP and Greens joined forces with Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems to devolve income tax and welfare powers to Holyrood. Marra said the same spirit of cooperation should exist for child poverty.
Marra's call for action
“The eradication of child poverty is why I got involved in politics, why I went on to run anti-poverty programmes for Oxfam, why I founded a child poverty charity,” Marra said. “The Scottish Parliament set a legal target of fewer than one in ten children in poverty during this parliament. The SNP government is on course to miss it by miles. I’m not interested in pointing fingers - there are three years left so let’s get this back on course.
“In politics three years can feel like a short time. In the life of a child, it is enormous. We cannot write off another generation while we argue about who is to blame.” He added: “Policies such as the Scottish Child Payment have made a difference, but Holyrood should go further especially on the structural issues of child poverty like jobs, housing and education.
“The Smith Commission has shown that politicians can get round the table and agree a set of proposals quickly. If we can do it to give more powers to politicians we should be able to do it to lift kids out of poverty. Scottish Labour can’t wait until 2031 to try and make Scotland better. We need to get to work right now.”
Commission focus and timeline
The North East MSP said the commission should produce a set of proposals for Parliament to enact in time for 2030. He said the talks should centre around employability, work and economic growth, early years education and childcare, housing, as well as social security, income maximisation and the cost of living.
Marra is going head-to-head with South Scotland MSP Joe Fagan for the leadership. The winner will be announced on September 19th.
