DUMBARTON’S Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie has laid blame at the SNP’s door over the UK Welfare Bill which was pushed through parliament to a second reading last week.

Harriet Harman MP, the interim leader of Labour, had refused to outright oppose the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which cuts tax credits, reduces the welfare cap and introduces a ‘national living wage’, which is 65p lower than the actual living wage.

The party had tabled an amendment setting out why they disagree with the government’s proposed bill, and said they would instead try to amend parts of it at committee stage.

However, Labour’s own Ian Murray MP said the move would affect 296,000 families in Scotland who receive tax credits, including more than 522,000 children. Forty-eight of the party’s 232 MPs refused to abstain, despite being ordered to do so by Ms Harman.

The Reporter asked Ms Baillie if she supported those who abstained, or those who rebelled.

She said: “Had Labour’s amendment been supported by a majority of MPs then this would have stopped the Welfare Bill going through Parliament. I am therefore disappointed that SNP MPs chose not to support it.

“Unfortunately the Tories have an absolute majority in the House of Commons so it is deeply frustrating for opposition MPs who can do little to stop the government legislating on its key policy commitments.

“I am very clear that the Tories Welfare Bill is an attack on our long established system of social security. It is an attack on disabled people. It will cause increased levels of child poverty. In short, it is an affront to decency in our society. Knowing the impact that it would have on constituents, I am deeply opposed to this bill.

“Labour will now introduce a whole series of amendments designed to remove whole sections of the Bill, including the abolition of the child poverty targets, cuts to support for disabled people and the freeze on social security payments, and I hope that colleagues from other opposition parties will support our efforts to protect our most vulnerable citizens.” In response, the SNP’s Martin Docherty, MP for West Dunbartonshire, said Ms Baillie’s position was ‘farcical’. He added: “The British Labour Party deliberately ensured that they did not have enough members in the Commons to win the vote on their own amendment and in any case, the SNP in good conscience could not vote in favour of a Labour amendment that pledged support for a number of this Tory government’s ill thought out welfare reforms.

“The fact is that if all Labour MPs had turned up and joined us in voting against the second reading of this Bill, the government’s welfare reform plans would have been stopped in their tracks as enough Tory MPs were absent to give the opposition a rare majority. For Labour to move an amendment supporting Tory policies and then to abstain when we try to block this legislation is a betrayal of the communities they are supposed to represent.

“The SNP is the only real opposition to the government in Westminster and it’s clear that Labour will continue to help the Tories implement their austerity agenda. The SNP will continue to speak up and oppose these damaging reforms on behalf of the communities of Scotland.”