Labour under pressure to reinstate all winter fuel payments after SNP’s vow to deliver them
LABOUR is under pressure to reinstate all winter fuel payments after the SNP said it will deliver them in Scotland.
Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville today confirmed pensioners on Pension Credit will get £200 or £300, while all others will get £100.
Ms Somerville told MSPs: “We will not abandon older people this winter or any winter.
“We will do our best to make sure no-one has to make a decision between heating and eating, and we will continue to protect pensioners.”
But the payments will not begin until late 2025, leaving 900,000 Scots unsupported this winter.
It follows the UK Government’s decision to scrap winter fuel payments, restricting them to pensioners on benefits and slashing Scotland’s funding by £150million.
The SNP’s move has also piled pressure on Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who has promised to restore all payments if Labour wins there in 2026.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s cuts have been blamed for Labour’s poll slump in Scotland since the general election.
Adding to the party’s troubles, union giant Unite has launched legal action against Sir Keir Starmer’s Government over the policy, branding it “cruel.”
Unite’s General Secretary Sharon Graham called for the courts to reverse the decision, but government figures insist the policy is legally watertight.