Thousands take to the streets in Edinburgh calling for urgent action on poverty in Scotland

Campaigners have taken to the streets in their thousands calling for urgent government action to tackle poverty and inequality in Scotland.

The anti-poverty demonstration was backed by more than 280 organisations echoing calls for better jobs and better housing to support communities.

Close to 5,000 people rallied outside the Scottish Parliament on Saturday to march in protest at the number of people still living in poverty in Scotland.

Organised by the Poverty Alliance, the demonstration called for urgent action from both the UK and Scottish governments to support people in crisis.

Peter Kelly from Poverty Alliance told STV News: “People are skipping meals, people are going without so their kids have got food – that’s obscene.

“People are not putting their heating on, people are in temporary accomodation and folks who are working, working hard, more than one job and still not making enough to cover the bills at the end of the month.

“These are the kinds of things that are the really day-to-day experiences of poverty that we can change.”

Saturday’s demonstration comes in the wake of a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which showed nearly one in four children are still living in poverty in Scotland – nearly a quarter of a million children.

According to their research, poverty is deepening across the country with nearly one in ten people now living in very deep poverty.

Roz Foyer from the STUC said: “People really are struggling, I mean we’ve had austerity, we’ve had Covid, we’ve had a cost of living crisis which people are still up against on a daily basis.

“We really want to send a really strong signal to our politicians today that they have to do better, they’ve got to turn up and they’ve got to deliver.”

Evidence shows that the introduction of the Scottish child payment has made a difference, but campaigners say there is still a way to go.

“As a nation, we believe we can do better in terms of reducing poverty, supporting families to thrive and not just survive,” said Satwat Rehamn from One Parent Families Scotland.

First Minister John Swinney has said the Scottish Government is committed to putting “more money in people’s pockets”.

Protesters say that promise needs to be delivered and swiftly as families continue to struggle.