The party have denounced Labour’s fiscal policy saying they have “made the wrong choices” by proposing austerity and through their previous decisions to block compensation for WASPI women and to cut the winter fuel payment.

They have targeted Scottish Labour figures such as party leader Anas Sarwar, who they have previously called on to apologise for his “broken promises” to disabled Scots after telling voters to “read my lips: No austerity under Labour” in an interview with the BBC, and Westminster’s Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray, who they claim has been “washing his hands” of the decision to cut welfare spending.

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn said: “Rather than cheerleading the Chancellor to introduce a new era of Labour austerity, Ian Murray should have opposed these cuts to disability support from day 1. Instead, he has chosen to support a Labour Cabinet which is punching down on the poorest, imposing cuts and breaking more election promises by the day.”

Kirsty Blackman MP and the SNP’s Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “It’s now clear the Labour Party’s austerity cuts to disabled people will hurt the most vulnerable in society, push thousands of families into poverty, and slash the Scottish Government’s budget.

“During the election, the Labour Party promised voters it would stop the cuts, grow the economy and improve living standards – but it has broken all three of those promises.

“Under Keir Starmer, the UK economy is tanking, economic growth has been slashed in half , the cost of living is soaring – and disabled people are being forced to foot the bill for the Labour Party’s failure on the economy.

“The Chancellor is making the wrong choices by imposing austerity cuts, and punching down on the poorest, instead of tackling the root causes of Brexit Britain’s broken economy – and it is shameful that the Labour Party is pushing disabled people and their children into poverty.

“This was a cynical attempt to bury bad news on austerity cuts and the economy on the same day but people in Scotland won’t forget this blatant betrayal by the Labour Party – and it is staggering the Labour government is imposing even bigger cuts because it got its sums wrong.

“This is a warning sign for voters ahead of the Scottish Parliament election next year. It shows the Labour Party can’t be trusted to keep its promises – and it underlines the value of a progressive SNP government that will always stand up for Scotland in the face of Labour Party cuts.”

The Scottish Greens also voiced their disapproval in an email newsletter to subscribers on March 26, saying: “This afternoon, Labour announced cuts that its own analysis says will plunge 250,000 more people into poverty, including 50,000 children.

“After promising change, they used the Spring Statement to make £5 billion worth of cuts against disabled people while lining up with the super rich, the arms dealers and corporations who are raking it in.”

“These cuts are a choice”, they said claiming that “Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have the power to build a fairer, greener and brighter future” if they choose to tax the “super-rich” and use this money to “invest in people and planet”, rather than imposing austerity measures and slashing welfare.

The Adam Smith Institute (ASI) found that 52.1 per cent of British adults are recipients of universal credit, a state pension, work in the public sector, are students or higher education staff.

The ASI’s director of research, Sam Bidwell claims that the results show Britain is facing three major challenges:

“The state has made huge spending commitments and it is unclear how we will pay for them. The money will have to be raised from a pool of taxpayers which is already shrinking as millionaires leave and the population ages. The Government may have to hike our taxes even higher.”

“The private sector is being stifled and is finding it harder to create the jobs that we need. Thanks to the rapid expansion of the regulatory burden and increases to  anti-business taxes such as employers’ National Insurance, fewer jobs are being created. This means that more and more Brits will have to rely on the state.”

“It’s hard for politicians to reduce the size of the state. Voters who rely on the state are less likely to support efforts to roll back the state and so politicians get the state more and more involved in the economy, creating a vicious cycle. “

He goes on to say that “we should not demonise those who rely on the state. After all, there are many reasons why someone is on Universal Credit, there are many pensioners who were productive taxpayers throughout their working lives, and there are many public sector workers who work hard in the national interest.

“But we have to wake up to the fact that n ever-shrinking pool of taxpayers is having to prop up the governments vast spending commitments”.

The report comes after the government announced major cuts to welfare spending on Tuesday, aiming to save £5 billion per year by making it harder to claim to benefits for less severe disabilities and mental health conditions and encouraging those who are able to work back into employment.

Sam goes on the say that these cuts are “some good first steps at tackling welfare dependency” in the UK, but calls for additional reforms to the “single largest item of welfare spending – the state pension”.

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party responded to the findings, saying: “This index is an important contribution to the necessary work of rewiring the state. A culture of dependency has developed that goes beyond welfare to a bureaucratic class with so many talented people working in the unproductive parts of the public sector and working on compliance with government regulations in the private sector.

She goes on to argue that priority must be given to “innovative and productive work”, moving away from an “An increasing reliance on state subsidy and regulation” that is “holding back enterprise and growth.”

A government spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions told PoliticsUK: “To fix our broken social security system, we announced the largest welfare reforms in a generation – backed by a £1 billion investment – to support those who can work to do so while protecting those who cannot, putting welfare on a fairer, more sustainable footing, to unlock growth as part of the Plan for Change.

“This is on top of Get Britain Working White Paper which empowers mayors and local areas to join up local work, health, and skills support to tackle inactivity in their areas, delivers a Youth Guarantee so every young person is either earning or learning, and overhaul jobcentres across the country.”

The DWP also highlighted that “work will be unlocked for thousands of sick and disabled people” through Jobcentre reforms and the welfare package reforms, with the government aiming to hit an employment rate of 80 per cent.