Scottish pensioners are set to have winter fuel payments reinstated after Labour split over one of Sir Keir Starmer’s flagship policies.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, pledged on Tuesday to “reinstate” the payment to Scots after control over the benefit was recently devolved to Holyrood.
He said a Labour government at Holyrood would “taper the level of support given to wealthiest households” to make the system fairer, meaning that while the wealthiest would not receive as much as the poor, all pensioners would receive something.
Mr Sarwar said the stance was “a Scottish solution to this issue” and would “deliver a fairer system to ensure that everyone who needs support gets it”.
The SNP revealed it is “considering” reinstating universal winter fuel payments in the upcoming Holyrood budget, meaning it is increasingly likely that UK Government cuts to the benefit will be reversed north of the border.
But the move risks infuriating pensioners in the rest of the UK whose taxes will pay for the policy but will not benefit.
Scottish Labour said the funding would come from billions of extra pounds handed by Rachel Reeves to the Scottish Government in the Chancellor’s recent Budget, via the Barnett formula.
SNP ministers will receive 20 per cent more funding per person than equivalent UK spending.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said all pensioners would receive the payment, regardless of income, but wealthier OAPs would have to pay back an increasing proportion as they went up the income scale.
The extraordinary U-turn comes amid rising panic in Scottish Labour ranks after its poll ratings nosedived following the winter fuel payment announcement and furore over “freebies”.
There was growing concern that the public backlash would cost Mr Sarwar his opportunity to replace John Swinney as first minister.
Mr Sarwar said: “A Scottish Labour government will reinstate the winter fuel payment for pensioners in Scotland.”
He added: “For months I have said that the eligibility criterion of pension credit is too low and called for a Scottish solution to this issue.
“That’s why Scottish Labour will take back this devolved power from the DWP, reinstate the winter fuel payment, and deliver a fairer system to ensure that everyone who needs support gets it.”
He argued that SNP ministers could also have kept a universal winter fuel payment this year by using £41 million of “consequentials” that came to Scotland thanks to the UK Government’s extension of the Household Support Fund.
Jon Trickett, the Labour MP for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire, tweeted: “Important announcement from Scottish Labour. As winter bites, I worry for our elders struggling to keep warm.
“In my area every village has at least one warm community room. But the Government should now correct its mistake and instate protective benefits to all who struggle.”
Important announcement from Scottish Labour. As winter bites,I worry for our elders struggling to keep warm.
In my area every village has at least one warm community room.
But the government should now correct its mistake and instate protective benefits to all who struggle— Jon Trickett MP (@jon_trickett) November 19, 2024
Mr Swinney’s SNP administration followed the Chancellor’s decision to means test the winter fuel payment, breaking a 2021 Holyrood election manifesto pledge.
The First Minister argued he had no choice but to follow suit as the cut had led to a £160 million reduction in the SNP government’s “consequential” funding through the Barnett formula.
The payment of between £100 and £300 will now only go to 130,000 Scottish OAPs in receipt of Pension Credit and other means-tested benefits – 900,000 fewer than last year.
It is thought Scottish Labour will hope to reap the benefit by announcing their policy to overturn universal winter fuel payments first. A poll conducted earlier this month found support for the party had dropped to the lowest level since Nicola Sturgeon was first minister.
The Norstat survey put Labour on 23 per cent for the Holyrood constituency vote at the constituency vote, down seven points since August, compared to the SNP on 33 per cent.
The Chancellor delivered the largest block grant settlement for Scotland in the history of devolution, with £1.5 billion more this year and £3.4 billion more next.
SNP pay rises
But Mr Swinney said he had already spent this year’s funding on public sector pay rises, while most of next year’s appeared to have been earmarked for the NHS.
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, refused to vote for cuts to winter fuel payments, saying it was a “moral line I could not cross.”
She welcomed Scottish Labour’s split from the UK party on the issue and urged Sir Keir Starmer to adopt Mr Sarwar’s policy, warning that elderly people could die if he did not.
She said: “Labour in the north recognises the necessity of having winter fuel payments for the cold and the old, this principle should extend to the rest of the UK.
“I believe there is a duty now on the Prime Minister to heed the actions Anas Sarwar has taken and to follow suit to protect older people this winter.”
Responding to Labour’s announcement Shirley-Anne Somerville, the SNP Secretary for Social Justice, said: “This is remarkable Orwellian double-think from the Labour Party – having just cut the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners across the UK, they now expect people to believe that they are in fact on the side of pensioners.”
The Tories were approached for comment.
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