While farmers gather in Westminster today to protest Labour’s Budget, it appears that north of the border Scottish Labour also have doubts about aspects of Rachel Reeves’s fiscal statement. Party leader Anas Sarwar has now vowed he will bring back the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners in a pushback against a cut brought about by, er, his own party in government. How very interesting…
Speaking to the Daily Record, Sarwar today insisted: ‘A Scottish Labour government will reinstate the winter fuel payment for pensioners in Scotland.’ Never one to resist taking a pop at the current SNP administration, however, the Scottish Labour leader went on to add:
The winter fuel payment was supposed to be a devolved benefit this year and there were additional resources available to the Scottish government through the household support fund. That meant we could have taken a different approach in Scotland to support more households this year – instead, the SNP decided to hand the power back to the Department for Work and Pensions.
The pledge follows widespread outrage at the cut, with the new means test requirement going down rather badly with voters across the country. Thanks to Reeves’s plan, up to 900,000 Scots could lose out on the benefit – and the realisation has caused Scottish Labour’s poll ratings to plummet. Despite the Nats suffering a massive defeat at the July election, Norstat polling for the Times this month showed support for Sarwar’s party nosedived after Reeves’s Budget – with a replication of the survey’s results in the 2026 Holyrood election meaning his lefty lot would find themselves effectively unable to kick the SNP out and form a Scottish government.
Party insiders are certainly rather concerned at Scottish Labour’s prospects at the 2026 election given the UK party’s staggeringly brief honeymoon period in government. Meanwhile the embattled Nats are gaining some hope from Sir Keir Starmer’s flailing government – with Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes claiming in London on Monday that the latest Norstat polling shows: ‘The constitution remains live, the constitution remains important and it is really a battle of vision for Scotland.’
With 18 months to go until the Scottish poll, there remains a rather lot for both parties to play for. Will Sarwar’s latest promise persuade Scotland to vote red? Watch this space…
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