ANAS Sarwar has been panned after he claimed that UK Government cuts are “not related” to cuts in Scotland.
The Scottish Labour leader made the claim on Monday – as he supported Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to end the Winter Fuel Payment, which had been universal and worth between £100 and £300, for millions of pensioners.
The cut from the Labour government, made in an effort to begin to plug what Reeves called a £22 billion black hole in the UK’s finances, means the Scottish Government will not receive an estimated £140-160 million to fund the Winter Fuel Payment north of the Border.
Spending by the UK Government directly impacts on Scottish Government funding in this way due to the "Barnett Consequentials" system.
The SNP government said the cut had left it with “no choice” but to copy Labour and also make the benefit means-tested, stripping it back in a move which has rung alarm bells in the charity sector.
But challenged on Monday, Sarwar insisted that cuts in Scotland were “not related” to cuts implemented in London.
In a clip reshared on social media by Scottish Labour's main account, an LBC reporter asked Sarwar: “[The SNP] say when Labour makes cuts, they have to do the same. I mean, that's correct, is it not?”
He responded: “Well, it's actually frankly embarrassing for a party that's been in government for 17 years, wants to blame a party that's been in government for around seven weeks. And in that time we are clearing up the mess left by the Tories, a mess that the SNP want to downplay …
“But the cuts that are happening in Scotland are not related to the £22bn black hole that Rachel Reeves set out in her statement.”
Labour cuts are all because of the Tories but any cuts having to be made by the SNP are all because of 'financial mismanagement'. Labour must think the people of Scotland are really stupid to believe rubbish like this. pic.twitter.com/qaiXxgu07Z
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) August 26, 2024
Sarwar’s claim has been attacked in strong terms, with Pete Wishart, the SNP’s longest serving MP, saying: “Labour cuts are all because of the Tories but any cuts having to be made by the SNP are all because of 'financial mismanagement'.
“Labour must think the people of Scotland are really stupid to believe rubbish like this.”
SNP MSP James Dornan said that Sarwar’s “nonsense” was the result of “a subservient client media [who] don't sufficiently challenge him in his clearly unsustainable fantasies”.
Councillor Allan Casey, who represents Glasgow’s Dennistoun for the SNP, said the Scottish Labour leader was “now just blatant in his attempt to mislead the public”.
“He hasn’t got a backbone to stand up to his bosses in London in the face of Labour austerity which is now crippling Scotland’s finances,” Casey added.
Alba general secretary Chris McEleny shared Sarwar’s claims and commented simply: “Comical.”
And Green councillor Anthony Carroll wrote: “The UK Government doesn't exist in a vacuum.
“Funding public pay rises through cuts and not taxing the wealthiest is trickling down to devolved government.
“Sarwar is promising to do skud all different if he was FM, and would just roll over even more for this Red Tory government.”
