SCOTTISH Labour’s “silence has been deafening”, the SNP have said, after a Welsh Labour minister said that UK Government benefit cuts could push people into fuel poverty.
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the UK Government would cut back the Winter Fuel Payment, which was previously universal and worth between £100 and £300 for British pensioners.
On Wednesday, in response to a question from Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies, Wales’s Culture Secretary Jane Hutt said that the decision to make the benefit means-tested "risks pushing some pensioners into fuel poverty”.
The concerns echoed those from charities such as Age UK, which called the Labour Chancellor’s decision “wrong” and warned that “as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in serious trouble as a result”.
However, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has defended the cut, calling it an “opportunity” for the Scottish Government to make the Winter Fuel Payment means-tested.
His deputy, Jackie Baillie, previously said she would "always fight" to keep the payments in place and not means-tested.
Responding to Culture Secretary Hutt's comments, SNP MSP Jackie Dunbar said: “At least someone in the Labour Party still has the backbone to speak out against the cuts-agenda being driven by Keir Starmer’s government. Meanwhile in Scotland, Anas Sarwar’s silence has been deafening.
"Labour has made the political choice to continue with a Tory-austerity cuts agenda – hitting the most vulnerable in our society by scrapping the universal Winter Fuel Payment and refusing to get rid of the cruel two-child benefit cap.
"Sarwar's deputy Jackie Baillie who previously said she would fight to protect the universal payment has also been silent. It is clear that Labour in Scotland are willing to rollover and go along with whatever their London bosses tell them.
“It should not be the case that pensioners in a country as energy-rich as Scotland are forced to bear the brunt of spending decisions taken at Westminster."
Green MSP Maggie Chapman also spoke against the cut to the Winter Fuel Payment, saying that it “has been a lifeline for older people who have been badly hit by the cost of living crisis, with many being forced to choose between heating their home and eating”.
She went on: “Means testing is wrong. It creates cracks that vulnerable and marginalised people often fall through, while fuelling divisive narratives about who is worthy of receiving services and who is not.
"A universal system is a far fairer system. It removes the shame and stigma that some are made to feel when accessing means tested benefits and reduces the likelihood of people who need support missing out on it.
"I hope that unity across the devolved parliaments can force Westminster to reconsider this punishing cut, but, with a Labour government set to carry on with the failed economic agenda of the Tories, we also need to consider what more we can do in Scotland to protect people.”
According to the campaign group National Energy Action, fuel poverty is defined as a household needing to spend at least 10% of its income on suitable heating levels.
