The Chancellor’s Spring Statement last week has caused a great deal of concern across Scotland.

We all recognise the difficult global situation, and the UK Government’s choice to increase defence investment is welcome, but its choices to shortchange public services and deliver austerity cuts to some of the most vulnerable are deplorable.

To claim that measures outlined in the Spring Statement continue to protect the most vulnerable – while confirming that £4.8 billion would be cut from welfare benefits by 2029-30 – is simply not credible. The UK Government’s own impact assessments show that these plans could push a quarter of a million people into relative poverty, including 50,000 children.

For the Scottish Government, with our driving ambition to eradicate child poverty, this is absolutely unacceptable. These cuts appear to be driven by a desire to save money and seek to balance the books on the backs........

© Herald Scotland