DOUGLAS Ross was accused of “plumbing the depths” as he sought to blame the SNP for a Westminster cut to pensioner benefits.
The Scottish Tory leader said the Scottish Government had failed to stop “pensioners freezing in their homes” by replicating Labour’s cut to the Winter Fuel Payment.
The benefit will be dramatically scaled-back in both Scotland and the rest of the UK, after Labour voted to scrap the universal benefit, which will now only be awarded to the worst-off pensioners.
The SNP have previously insisted they had “no choice” but to follow Westminster’s lead and Swinney said the Scottish Government’s lack of budgetary flexibility made the choice for ministers.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood on Thursday, Ross said: “Politics is about choices, and John Swinney’s government has chosen to pass on Labour cuts which could see 900,000 Scottish pensioners losing out.
“The SNP could have mitigated against those cuts, they have a budget of more than £50 billion and just this week, we have seen the bloated Scottish Government civil service reach a record high.
“So can I ask John Swinney, why are public sector pen-pushers more important to him than stopping pensioners freezing in their homes?”
Swinney replied: “In his last weeks in office as Conservative leader, Douglas Ross really is plumbing the depths in the questions that he puts to Parliament today.”
The Scottish Government had been due to launch a devolved version of the benefit, taking it out of Westminster control, later this year but this has since been deferred until next winter.
Ross (above) accused ministers of “considering cutting that payment back in May” as he cited a Scottish Government response to a consultation on the benefit.
The Scottish Government had said it would keep eligibility for its version of the Winter Fuel Payment under review.
Swinney dismissed Ross’s argument and added: “Douglas Ross knows full well the way in which the finances of the Scottish Government operate.
“If we suffer a cut in our budget of £160m, courtesy of the Labour Government, we have got to respond to that and we have got to act accordingly.
“I need no lessons from Douglas Ross about mitigating decisions of the UK Government because this Government is mitigating a series of decisions taken by Douglas Ross and his colleagues on an ongoing basis about the bedroom tax and other measures where we picked up the pieces because of the odious decisions taken by the Conservative government in London.”
