ANAS Sarwar has insisted he isn’t “playing politics” over the Winter Fuel Payment despite urging the Scottish Government to bring it back in full after his party voted to cut it.
Scottish Labour confirmed on Monday they would be forcing a vote in Holyrood on reinstating the benefit in Scotland.
But leader Sarwar has been accused of “gaslighting the nation” after most of his MSPs voted against a Holyrood motion last month calling on the UK Government to reverse its cuts to the payment.
Only two Scottish Labour MSPs voted with the Government: Former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard and MSP Alex Rowley.
In September, Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster backed making the benefit means-tested, which the Scottish Government then said it had “no choice” but to replicate.
On a campaign visit to Clydebank on Tuesday, The National asked following his U-turn if he regretted getting his MPs to vote for the cut in the first place.
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Sarwar squirmed over his answer and said: “I’ve been really clear about this right from the start that I’ve always thought that the threshold of pension credit was too low and there’s lots of individuals and families who would be missing out on pension credit who do require support this year.
“We suggested an alternative from the outset, a different approach here in Scotland because there was £41 million of additional money available through the Household Support Fund that is designed to support low income households with their bills that’s not passed on in Scotland so we suggested we use that to design a different scheme given that the Winter Fuel Payment was supposed to be a devolved benefit this year.
“But rather than take that approach the SNP dithered for four months and then chose to give the power back to Westminster.”
Pressed on whether he was then suggesting he didn’t regret his MPs supporting the cut, Sarwar (below) appeared to suggest the decision was right for the situation the UK Government was facing.
He said: “What I’m saying is you have to look at the decision that was made across the UK in the context of a £22 billion black hole that was identified in the public finances this year and they had to make decisions on that.
Sarwar denied that he had confused voters his switch of positions and insisted people would be more confused by why the Scottish Government had chosen to “hand power back to Westminster rather than keep this as a devolved benefit”.
He also denied he was “playing politics”.
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“I’m doing the right thing by Scottish pensioners. The SNP might want to play politics on this and have a fight about it. I want to do what’s right by Scottish pensioners,” Sarwar said.
Asked if he believed he wasn’t playing politics, he said: “No I’m saying we’re going to guarantee that everyone who needs support in Scotland gets it.”
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has confirmed the Scottish Government had no alternative but to replicate the cut in Scotland and restrict payments to pensioners who receive eligible benefits.
Cuts to the payment initiated by the UK Government are set to reduce the block grant adjustment associated with the payment by an estimated £140-£160 million in 2024-25.
That amounts to nearly 90% of the cost of the Scottish Government's new replacement benefit: the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.
The launch of the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment has currently been deferred to 2025/26.
Scottish Labour has lodged a series of amendments to the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill looking to reinstate the Winter Fuel Payment for the majority of pensioners and set up a tapering mechanism for the highest earners.
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