The SNP has described 2024 as the year of “no change” from Westminster after Labour carried on from where the Tories left off after 14 damaging years in government.
Keir Starmer built his election campaign around a manifesto promise of “change” but in the six months since coming to power voters in Scotland have seen no evidence of this – just broken promises and cuts to benefits and public services hitting the most vulnerable in society hardest.
Labour’s litany of failure, so far, includes:
· Scrapping the Universal Winter Fuel payment, leaving 900,000 Scottish pensioners at risk of not being able to afford to heat their homes this winter.
· Refusing to get rid of the cruel two-child benefit cap and associated rape cause, or the Bedroom Tax.
· Failing to stop energy costs soaring by an average of £150, with a further increase to come in January, having pledged to cut bills by £300.
· Failing to offset any of the damage caused by Brexit with a refusal to discuss returning to the Single Market, amending the Internal Market Act or the introduction of a Scottish Visa pilot despite promising to be open to discussions during the election campaign.
· Putting Scotland’s public services and thousands of organisations at risk with its decision to increase employers National Insurance payments.
· Snubbing WASPI women’s fight for justice and compensation.
In sharp contrast, the SNP Scottish Government is delivering a budget for Scotland, by Scotland.
This includes record funding for our NHS, ending the cruel Labour two-child limit, restoring the universal Winter Fuel Payment and ensuring the majority of Scottish taxpayers pay less than they would elsewhere in the UK.
SNP Depute Leader Keith Brown said:
“Keir Starmer repeatedly promised voters “change” whilst his Scottish leader Anas Sarwar vowed that there “would be no austerity under Labour”.
“After less than six months in power, voters across Scotland rightly feel betrayed and let down once again.
“Whether it’s the decision to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment, failure to abolish cruel Tory policies such as the Two Child Benefit Cap or their refusal to even address the disaster which is Brexit – it is clearer than ever that it makes no difference to people in Scotland which party is in power at Westminster.
“These are policies that the SNP is having to mitigate, where possible, and in doing so are lifting thousands of children out of poverty – something that Labour inexplicably refuse to do.
“This year also marked the tenth anniversary of the independence referendum – a decade of broken promises from the Better Together campaign which claimed that Scotland’s membership of the EU was only safe by remaining in the UK, that our economy would be stronger, and that Scots would be better off as part of the union.
“We may have seen a change in the occupant of Number 10 in 2024, but this year has seen none of the real change we were promised.
“The reality is that whichever party is in charge at Westminster, they will never have the interests of Scotland at its heart.
“Only the SNP will put Scotland’s interests first and offer meaningful change for Scotland’s economy, households and businesses.
“Ultimately, only the full powers of independence will allow us to escape the Westminster status quo.”
