THE BBC has apologised and issued a correction after wrongly claiming that Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar had expressed disappointment in his own MPs for failing to oppose the two-child benefit cap.
The controversial policy, which was brought in by the Tory government and criticised by many top Labour figures, has been kept in place by Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who has insisted that economic growth must come before tackling child poverty.
In Scotland, the SNP Government has said that it will work towards scrapping the cap in 2026 – and Scottish Labour have called for it to be removed even sooner.
However, Sarwar has not criticised any Scottish Labour MPs – whom he nominally leads – for voting with the UK Government to keep the cap he opposes in place.
Speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show on January 19, host Martin Geissler claimed Sarwar had suggested his own MPs were “wrong” to support the cap – which prevents people from claiming benefits for third or subsequent children.
In an interview with Scottish Labour MP and Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill, Geissler emphasised the difference between her group’s stated policies and what they in practice support from UK Labour.
“You are a Scottish Labour MP, but you voted in Parliament to keep the two-child benefit cap.
“Your boss at Scottish Labour, Anas Sarwar, says that is wrong. You shouldn't have done that and your party in Westminster shouldn't be doing that. Is he wrong?”
McNeill defended the split between UK and Scottish Labour, saying: “Devolution has matured, and that does mean that on different sides of the Border and at different levels of government and indeed at different levels of the Labour Party, there will be different points of view.
“That's an entirely healthy sign that devolution is working.”
However, the BBC has now conceded that Sarwar had not in fact criticised Scottish Labour MPs for voting to keep the two-child benefit cap in place.
An apology posted on its website on Monday read: “In an interview with Labour’s Kirsty McNeill MP, we incorrectly stated that the Scottish Labour Leader, Anas Sarwar, had criticised Scottish Labour MPs who voted in parliament to keep the two-child benefit cap.
“We apologise for this error.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Geissler further pushed McNeill on the divide in Labour.
“We were told at election time, Scottish Labour MPs will vote with Scottish Labour. They are Scottish MPs and they stand for Scottish values,” he said.
“You will now vote for the UK Government, will you? Because that's not what we get told when you want our votes.”
She responded: “What we said to the public is that we were standing on the manifesto, we have in our King's speech and our subsequent Budget, got on with implementing the promises that were in our manifesto.
“I'm a member of a UK Government and Scottish Labour – and Scottish Labour MSPs will come up with the policy conclusions they think are right for Scotland at the Holyrood level, but at the UK level, we had to fix the foundations.”
