The SNP has challenged Sir Keir Starmer to “U-turn on his winter fuel payment cuts and end the Labour Party’s damaging obsession with austerity” – ahead of his conference speech today.
With the Labour Party plummeting in the polls, Stephen Flynn MP said “voters in Scotland understandably feel betrayed over Labour’s cuts and broken promises.
We were promised change but, instead, Scotland has been short-changed and families across the country are paying the price as Keir Starmer wields the axe.”
The SNP Westminster Leader said:
“There’s a growing feeling among voters that the Labour government is just as bad as the Tories – lining their pockets with £800,000 of freebies, while they balance the books on the backs of the poor.
“A life of luxury for them, austerity cuts for the rest of us.”
It comes after the Labour government announced billions of pounds of cuts to families and public services, including ending the winter fuel payment for around 860,000 Scottish pensioners, continuing to impose the two child benefit cap, which is pushing thousands of Scottish children into poverty, and cutting a £1.3billion investment in Edinburgh for the development of an exascale supercomputer and AI research.
It comes as polls show Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have fallen to their lowest ever levels at -26, down by 45 points since July.
The Opinium Poll for the Observer also found a majority of voters (57%) think the Labour government is ‘worse’ or ‘about the same’ as the last Tory government, and a plurality of voters (45%) think it is out of touch with ordinary people.
Separate polling by Survation found a majority of Scots (56%) do not think the Labour government is “acting in the best interests of Scotland” – while just 15% do.
A majority (51%) oppose Labour’s cuts to winter fuel payments, and almost half of Labour voters in Scotland (44%) think Keir Starmer’s government has “failed to meet expectations”.
On electoral support, polls show the Labour Party’s lead in Scotland has collapsed.
The Survation poll found the SNP and Labour Party are now neck-and-neck in Westminster voting intention at 31% each, with Labour falling nine points since the last poll.
A separate poll by Opinium for the Sunday Times, conducted on 11th September, had the SNP seven points ahead of Labour at 32% to 25% in Westminster voting intention.
Commenting, SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn MP said:
“After months of misery and scandal, Sir Keir Starmer must use his speech today to press the reset button by U-turning on his winter fuel payment cuts and ending the Labour Party’s damaging obsession with austerity.
“There’s a growing feeling among voters that the Labour government is just as bad as the Tories – lining their pockets with £800,000 of freebies, while they balance the books on the backs of the poor.
“A life of luxury for them – painful austerity cuts for the rest of us.
“Voters in Scotland understandably feel betrayed over Labour’s cuts and broken promises.
“We were promised change but, instead, Scotland has been short-changed and families across the country are paying the price as Keir Starmer wields the axe.
“Governments are defined by the choices they make.
“The Labour Party’s choices are pushing thousands of Scottish children into poverty, cutting the incomes of around 860,000 Scottish pensioners, and taking billions of investment out of Scotland’s communities and public services.
“Starmer is making the same mistakes as George Osborne.
“It’s vital he changes course, stops copying the Tories and starts delivering the step change voters were promised.”
