Thousands march in Edinburgh calling for poverty action

Thousands of people have marched through central Edinburgh calling for more action to tackle poverty in Scotland.

The Scotland Demands Better demonstration was organised by trade unions and charities to push for more action on poverty ahead of the UK Budget and next year's Scottish Parliament elections.

The demonstration was organised by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and The Poverty Alliance. They called for increases in free childcare and the scrapping the two child benefit cap.

The march comes after recent research from The Poverty Alliance found one in four children in Scotland is living in poverty.

The protestors included trade union members, faith groups and community organisations. They made their way from the Scottish Parliament to the Meadows where they held a rally.

Organisers said the demonstration was part of a "growing nationwide campaign" to demand better jobs and social security.

They also want to see more investment in "life essentials" such as as housing, transport, healthcare and education.

Peter Kelly, chief executive of The Poverty Alliance said the march was a response to challenges being felt by people in Scotland.

"Too many of us are going hungry, or are without a home, or sacrificing meals to feed their children, dreading winter due to heating costs, or struggling to get by on wages that don't cover their household costs," he said.

STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said people are calling for real action to tackle poverty, and electioneering on the issue must stop.

She said: "People are exhausted with the false promises of change that come every time an election rolls around only to be badly let down time and time again."

Members of the Unite union waved flags calling for the Grangemouth refinery to be saved.

Unite Secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: "Scotland is losing highly skilled jobs, decent affordable housing remains out of reach and public services remain underfunded and overstretched. Wages and living standards just aren't keeping up."

The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 set targets to cut child poverty to 18% by 2024/25 and 10% by 2030/31.

Earlier this month, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warned that these targets were set to be missed by a "large margin".

Child poverty in Scotland is lower than any other part of the UK and the only poverty rate which is falling, but the Scottish government missed its statutory interim target to reduce the rate below 18% by last year, with the figure left at 23%.

Before the march, First Minister John Swinney offered his "best wishes" to those taking part.

He added: "Of course those marching today are right that too many people are living in poverty and too many people - many of them in work - are struggling to make ends meet.

"In a country as rich as Scotland, that is simply not acceptable to me."

A UK government spokesperson said ministers are "determined to bring down poverty and have implemented measures such as increasing the national minimum wage and introducing universal credit changes."

A strategy to tackle child poverty will be published later this year.