ANAS Sarwar needs to be “humble and honest enough” to admit he is not in control of Scottish Labour MPs ahead of a crunch vote on Waspi compensation in the Commons, an expert has said.
Last week, Scottish Labour MSPs united with the rest of the Holyrood Chamber to call on the UK Government to deliver compensation to 1950s-born women affected by changes to the state pension age.
Despite a recommendation from Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) last March that Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women should get compensation of £1000 to £2950 per person, the Labour UK Government has refused to deliver any – behaviour since described by the PHSO as “extremely unusual”.
The SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn is now set to present a bill at Westminster on Tuesday – on which the SNP have said they will force a vote – which if passed would require the Labour Government to compensate Waspi women.
It has brought Scottish Labour MPs into sharp focus, with the SNP insisting Sarwar needs to “whip his MPs” to back compensation being offered in order to prove he is not a “lame duck leader”.
But Professor Rob Johns, who was a founding investigator on the Scottish Election Study series, said Sarwar should not pretend he has any say over how Scottish Labour MPs vote and be honest about the scope of his role.
Asked if Sarwar needs to be brave enough to say he isn’t in control of Scottish Labour MPs, Johns told The National: “It could be brave enough, but you could also say honest enough and humble enough because that is the reality of the situation.
“He’s not in control of what Scottish Labour MPs do and if he pretends he is, he will be revealed as overclaiming.”
Johns (below) suggested Sarwar can combat criticisms of being a “lame duck leader” by laying out more clearly that he can only have influence over Scottish Labour MSPs.
“The SNP is saying 'you don’t actually lead Scottish Labour MPs' and he’s got to say ‘yeah, of course. I understand the constitution’,” Johns added.
“He can argue very clearly against the lame duck leader criticism by pointing out his MSPs voted in a different way to how UK Labour MPs are going to vote.
“Given that the situation is that Scottish Labour MPs are going to be voting for a lot of stuff that Scottish Labour MSPs would like to say they wouldn’t vote for, I don’t see the logic in not enforcing that distinction [between Scottish and UK Labour] and stressing that point and not saying ‘yep, I tell the MSPs what to do, Keir Starmer tells the MPs what to do’.
“It’s tricky because he will be asked ‘why are they doing this if you think it’s such a bad idea’ but there’s no way around that. That’s the necessarily evil of any sensible strategy.
“I think it’s clearly in Sarwar’s interests to have that distinction in mind.”
Last week when questioned by The National, Sarwar did not clarify how Scottish Labour MPs would vote on Waspi compensation if one was held despite his MSP Michael Marra insinuating in Holyrood they would support Waspi women.
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has already said he will vote with the Government, adding the decision not to pay compensation was the right one.
While in opposition, key Labour figures including Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed a pledge for “fair and fast” compensation for Waspi campaigners, so the UK Government’s decision not to follow through has been branded a “betrayal” by opposition politicians.
Speaking to The National last week, Waspi chair Angela Madden called on Scottish Labour MPs to “be brave and vote with your conscience”, adding she would be checking in to see if they were still in support of the campaign.