Triple whammy of winter price hikes is last thing families need

Record View says Scots have had to struggle through huge increases in food and housing costs over the last couple of years.

Three new ways to make us poor

As we head into winter, the last thing families need is a triple whammy of price hikes.

Scots have had to struggle through huge increases in food and housing costs over the last couple of years.

The Tories did terrible damage to our economy over the last 14 years and have left our public services on their knees.

Thankfully we did the right thing by booting them out of office in July.

But that won’t seem like much comfort to many Scots as they face increases in the cost to heat their homes and travel to work this week.

The pilot on getting rid of peak rail fares was a massive success.

It made travelling by train more ­accessible, attractive and affordable.

As Aslef’s Kevin Lindsay said, reintroducing them is a tax on workers. We should be encouraging people to use public transport, not putting them off.

We have had four years of record high energy bills which have forced people to spend any spare cash they had.

So it is a blow that the energy price cap will increase again this week.

Scots families need protection against the rise in fuel costs, especially given that the new Labour Government is taking away the Winter Fuel Payment from more than 800,000 pensioners.

The Record does agree that minimum unit pricing is a policy which helps reduce deaths from alcohol. But today’s rise in booze costs will add yet another price hike to the weekly shop.

We need to see more action by Westminster and Holyrood to try to help families get through this winter.

What nobody needs is three new ways to make us all poorer.

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Petty, stupid rule

The justice system in Scotland is trying to do better when it comes to snaring those who commit serious sexual crimes against women.

That is the correct action as conviction rates have been shamefully low.

But today one victim of such an attack, Julie Crompton, tells how red-tape has stopped her being properly compensated after her horrific ordeal.

Julie was subjected to serious sexual assaults at the hands of her then partner, but only built up the courage to report her abuser years later.

Now she has been told she won’t be getting any criminal injuries compensation because the crimes against her were too long ago.

This decision is as stupid as it is petty.

No matter how long ago they happened, the trauma for victims in cases such as this can last a lifetime.

There should be no time-bar on compensation and we hope the UK authorities see sense in this case and allow Julie to apply.

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