Press Release
For immediate Use
20 February 2026
For attention of chief reporter
The latest report confirming that people in Scotland are dying younger because of poverty should shame every government that has presided over this broken system.
In modern Scotland, your postcode still determines how long you live. In some communities, life expectancy is years even a decade lower than in affluent areas, that is not “lifestyle choice,” That is structural poverty, it is political neglect and economic extraction.
Let us be absolutely clear, this is not inevitable, it is engineered by political choices.
A spokesperson from the Alliance to Liberate Scotland said:
“When poverty cuts lives short, that is not unfortunate it is institutional failure. It is unacceptable for any prosperous country to allow children to experience hunger and cold, especially while valuable natural resources are being exported for profit. Scotland is not poor; Scotland is being drained of our resources by political choices made at Westminster leading to the poverty we see within our communities.”
Scotland is one of the richest energy producing nations in Europe. Scotland has world-leading renewables. Scotland has food production capacity beyond its population needs. Scotland has extraordinary natural wealth, yet we have foodbanks in every town. Why?
Since Scotland lacks control over all aspects of power, Westminster shapes macroeconomic policy based on London’s priorities rather than Scotland’s needs. Independence involves more than simply displaying a saltire; it means implementing policies that truly address the challenges faced by our citizens. Without complete sovereignty, it is not possible to resolve the fundamental issues contributing to poverty.
Perhaps the most damning reality of all is this, people are working full time and still cannot afford to live, that is not laziness, it is not lack of effort, it is wage suppression built into an economic model that prioritises cheap labour over human dignity. the “working poor” exist because:
- Energy costs are artificially inflated.
- Housing costs consume wages.
- Tax and National Insurance structures are not designed around Scottish economic realities.
- Productivity gains are not shared with workers.
You cannot eradicate poverty if you allow work itself to be a poverty trap.
The Alliance to Liberate Scotland is clear, every meaningful, permanent solution to poverty requires economic independence from Westminster’s greed.
Here is how Independence can eradicate poverty and why it cannot be done under Westminster control.
1 Publicly Owned Scottish Energy To Slash Bills
Under independence:
- Scotland could establish a publicly owned national energy company.
- Domestic energy bills could be capped using our renewable surplus.
- Small businesses could receive reduced tariffs to cut overheads.
As long as grid pricing and energy market rules remain tied to Westminster structures, Scotland cannot fully protect its households or businesses.
Energy wealth must serve Scottish families not multinational shareholders elsewhere.
2 Fair Tax Reform Protect Small Businesses
Under independence:
- We could design a tax system that shields small Scottish businesses.
- Introduce land value reform targeting speculative hoarding.
- Close multinational loopholes.
- Reward employers who pay fair wages.
Westminster tax frameworks prioritise financial markets and multinational structures. An independent Scotland could prioritise community enterprise.
3 National Investment Bank for Scottish Enterprise
Under independence:
- Establish a sovereign Scottish investment fund.
- Provide low-interest loans to local manufacturers, food producers and tech innovators.
- Anchor wealth locally.
Without full fiscal autonomy, Scotland cannot build the scale of sovereign capital required to transform its economy.
4 Mass Social Housebuilding End Housing Insecurity
Under independence:
- Launch a national housebuilding programme.
- Use public bonds and sovereign borrowing powers.
- Cut rents, reduce housing benefit reliance, create thousands of jobs.
Housing poverty is a political choice. Independence gives us the borrowing and fiscal flexibility to end it.
5 Fair Work Reward, Don’t Punish Small Employers
Under independence:
- National Insurance reform tailored to Scotland.
- Business rate relief linked to job creation in deprived areas.
- Energy levy removal for micro businesses.
We can design policy that grows small firms, not squeezes them.
6 End Food Poverty Permanently
Under independence:
- Redirect procurement to Scottish producers.
- Build community food resilience networks.
- Guarantee food security as a national policy priority.
A country that exports food should not have hungry children.
Poverty is costing the country far too much, we can continue managing decline within a system designed in London, or we can take responsibility for our own economy and build a Scotland where:
- No child grows up in poverty.
- No pensioner dies cold.
- No community is written off.
- No small business is crushed by energy costs.
The Alliance to Liberate Scotland believes poverty in Scotland can be eradicated within a decade, but only if Scotland controls all of its economic levers.
Anything less is managed injustice.
Independence is not the dream. It is the tool.
And without that tool, poverty will remain.
ENDS
For further information contact Allan Petrie 07803725878
email allan@liberate-scotland.scot
While I wholly agree that independence will see a reversal of some of the worst aspects of Scottish lives, I must point out that simpky claiming it’s WM fault is an over simplification and dtaws attention to the wrong cause. WM houses BOTH Scottish and English SOVEREIGN NATION STATE GOVERNMENTS as legal equals. The sovereignty of one does not supercede the sovereignty of the other. Scots need to be asking WHY, beyond the Article stating in the treaty, Scots send their government to WM. Scots send a delegation to WM, imbued with their sovereignty, to act on Scotland’s behalf in the form of their MPs. It matters not how many MPs England have. The MPs that matter are Scotland’s. This is a treaty between sovereign nation states and our delegation should be acting as they would when interacting with sovereign nation states in regards to any other treaty. You send them there to put forward and secure the best deal for your country. If something is detrimental to your ciuntry and or its integrity you reject it and outright refuse to even entertain it. What you don’t do is cede your sovereignty and hand over all decision making to the treaty partner to do as they like and to hell with the consequences. Yet that is precisely what the Scot gov delegation does. Why is this important? If by some miracle Scots reinstate their full statehood once again, they will have to make countless treaties with far more powerful partners than England. If Scots cannot assert their rights while in a treaty with England, a minute government on a tiny island, that is more than £3 trillion in debt, then it doesn’t bode well for any future treaties Scotland may have to make especially when their go to is deference of government and ceding of sovereign authority.
If Scots are serious about ending the systemic and institutionalised poverty and low life expectancy they first must address the elephant in the room. Who will assert that authority when those Scots elect and send to act on their behalf abdicate their duty?