SCOTTISH Labour have been urged to oppose benefits cuts announced by the UK Government.
On Tuesday, Labour's Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced £5 billion in cuts to the welfare budget, with a huge number of people now set to be denied the disability benefit Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
PIP is not linked to work and helps with extra living costs for people with disabilities. It comes in two parts: a daily living part, for people who struggle with everyday tasks; and a mobility part, for people who have difficulty getting around.
While PIP is being phased out in Scotland, with the devolved Adult Disability Payments (ADP) administered by Social Security Scotland expected to fully replace it by the end of 2025, the UK welfare cuts will reduce the money returning to Scotland for ADP.
Charities have hit out at the decision, arguing that the “brutal and reckless” cuts to welfare should “shame the Government to its core”.
Meanwhile, Scottish Government Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville warned that the impact of Labour's benefit cuts could be "really quite severe" in Scotland.
On Wednesday, political parties in Scotland called on Scottish Labour MSPs in Holyrood to oppose the cuts.
The SNP's deputy leader in Westminster, Pete Wishart, said Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar should "apologise to disabled people and all of the voters in Scotland that he misled".
It comes after Sarwar rejected the idea that billions in cuts to benefits amount to austerity.
Wishart said: "Yet again, Anas Sarwar has shown that he can't be trusted to stand up for Scotland or keep his promises. His shameful support for the Labour Government's devastating cuts to disabled people is a betrayal of the promises he made to voters.
The SNP's calls have been echoed by the Scottish Greens, as the party's co-leader Lorna Slater urged Sarwar to reject Starmer’s decision "to plunge vulnerable people into poverty".
“Social security in the UK is among the lowest in Europe. These cuts will cause great harm to disabled people in particular who rely on this financial support as a lifeline.
"There will be a severe humanitarian cost. It will mean people going hungry or being cut-off, trapped in their homes.
“Every Scottish Labour MSP represents constituents and communities who will suffer as a direct result.
“From cutting vital Winter Fuel Payments and plunging pensioners into fuel poverty to betraying WASPI women and from keeping the cruel two child cap to punishing disabled people, this is a Labour government that has shown it cannot be trusted to stand up for the communities they represent.
“There is a choice. By taxing the super wealthy we can raise billions of pounds for the services that people rely on.
“People in Scotland waited 14 long years to get rid of the Tories only to get a Labour government that is doubling down on their most punishing policies. I urge Anas Sarwar to live up to the promises he made during the election and to oppose these devastating cuts.”
When contacted by The National, Scottish Labour pointed towards previous comments made by Sarwar where he rejected the notion that the cuts amounted to austerity.
Instead, Sarwar insisted that net spending would go up, which he said was the "very opposite of austerity".
Sarwar insisted the Labour Government had to act to deal with the “broken approach” to social security payments left by the Tories and to “put our finances on a sustainable footing”.
