JOHN Swinney confronted Angela Rayner over Labour’s cuts to pensioner benefits during a meeting in Edinburgh.
The First Minister challenged Keir Starmer’s deputy on the decision to remove Winter Fuel Payments for millions of pensioners.
The change, which means now only the poorest pensioners will be entitled to money from the Government towards their energy bills, is expected to affect tens of thousands of Scots.
During a meeting in Bute House on Thursday, Swinney told the Deputy Prime Minister of his “concern” at the change, which he said was done without consulting the Scottish Government.
In a statement following the talks, Swinney (below) said: “I expressed concern at the UK Government’s decision to cut spending for the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners without any consultation with the Scottish Government.
“Scotland faces the most challenging financial circumstances in the devolution era and has no alternative but to replicate this decision which will impact tens of thousands of pensioners in Scotland.
“As I have previously warned, we need an injection of investment in our public services to deal with rising pressures and the ongoing cost of austerity.”
The pair also discussed recent far-right riots across England and Northern Ireland and the First Minister stressed he was “building a constructive and collaborative relationship with the UK Government that delivers for the people of Scotland”.
He added: “In that spirit of cooperation, I was pleased to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister to Bute House to discuss how our two governments can work together on shared priorities such as supporting strong public services and reaching net-zero.
“Following recent criminal disorder in England and Northern Ireland, both governments restated their duty to tackle hatred of any kind and agreed we have a responsibility to confront racism and religious prejudice wherever, and whenever, it appears – including on social media.”
