The SNP has said Rachel Reeves must use her Spending Review launch today to “change course” on Winter Fuel Payment cuts, National Insurance rises and the two-child benefit cap.
It comes after the SNP Scottish Government set out plans for a unique Scottish Winter Fuel Payment and an end to the two-child benefit cap at the Budget.
The Labour Government has had a nightmare start with one of Sir Keir Starmer’s first acts as Prime Minister being to suspend seven of his own MPs after they backed an SNP move to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
This was followed by the Labour Government robbing millions of pensioners of their Winter Fuel Payment with the SNP Scottish Government stepping in to protect 900,000 Scots.
Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves’ raid on National Insurance is estimated to average £800 per employee with that cost likely to be passed on to workers with lower wages and redundancies.
With Rachel Reeves set to formally launch a Spending Review today, the SNP has called for the Labour Government to change course.
Commenting, SNP economy spokesperson, Dave Doogan MP said:
“Rachel Reeves will use tomorrow as yet another attempt to draw a line under the Labour Government’s disastrous start, but the fact is unless they change course to reinstate the Winter Fuel Payment, scrap the two-child cap and row back on the jobs tax, it’s just more insipidness from a Labour Party that promised “change” and delivered misery.
“Meantime, John Swinney has shown decisive leadership by cleaning up Labour’s mess and introducing a unique Scottish Winter Fuel Payment and scrapping the two-child cap – any Scottish politician worth their salt should put Scotland’s interests first at every turn and that’s the type of government Scots can expect from the SNP.
“The nodding dogs that are Labour MPs from Scotland will cheer on Rachel Reeves no matter what she says today, but for SNP MPs, anything less than change on those three fronts is not good enough – Scots deserve so much better than a Labour Government determined to follow the same old Tory playbook.”
