A LEADING charity has accused politicians of cowardice for failing to tackle soaring rates of extreme deprivation north of the border.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said families were being “locked into poverty” by a “failing” social security system, with a lack of action by both Westminster and Holyrood keeping more than a million of Scotland’s people — including about 240,000 children — in poverty.

Associate director in Scotland Chris Birt said struggling people were “being short-changed by a lack of political courage.”