Why the SNP keeps failing in its war on child poverty

The poor are always with us, Jesus said, and that has never been more true than in Scotland over the past 25 years. One in four children is still languishing in poverty, according to the Scottish government’s own statistics. This ratio never seems to change, whoever is in power and however much is spent on it. First Minister John Swinney recommitted himself to the Quixotic objective of eradicating poverty in his programme for government this week. He said ending child poverty will be the ‘single greatest priority’ of his government – just as it was for Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon and all first ministers since the dawn of devolution. The only certainty is that he will fail – even though the eradication of child poverty has been a legally-binding commitment since 2017.