Labour Cuts Spell Bleak Winter
The SNP has warned that households could really start to feel Labour’s Winter Fuel Payment cut soon, as Scotland is braced for a predicted seven-day onslaught of snow next week.
It comes after Labour MPs from Scotland backed Rachel Reeves’ budget that robbed 900,000 Scottish pensioners of their heating support while energy bills soared by £149.
Angus MP Dave Doogan, the SNP’s economy spokesperson at Westminster, has called for a package of measures to help households with energy bills. This includes reversing the cuts to the winter fuel payment, introducing a social tariff for energy bills and announcing a timetable for when Labour will deliver on its election pledge to cut energy bills by £300 a year.
Sir Keir Starmer previously promised voters that the “Labour government will tackle the root causes of the cost of living crisis and help families save up to £300 off their energy bills“. Since Labour won power, however, energy bills have gone up by 10% – £149 a year – for a typical household, while the combined £600 Winter Fuel Payment and Pensioner Cost of Living Payment has been abolished for most pensioners.
Last month, Labour MPs blocked an SNP amendment to the GB Energy Bill that would have forced the reduction of energy bills by £300. Meanwhile, increases to gas and electricity prices on 1st October are seeing typical household annual bills rise by about £149 to £1,717.
The SNP has said it means the Labour government will now need to reduce bills by £449 a year to meet their election pledge. And now with a barrage of snow set to collide with Scotland next week, action is being demanded.
Households in Angus and across Scotland are facing the anticipated arrival of real winter weather shortly.
GRAEME
And it comes in the context of the removal of the Winter Fuel Payment by the Labour UK Government – a move which left the Scottish Government without the funding for the devolved payment.
Labour talked all about how they would bring energy bills down during the election campaign, but we have seen the opposite occur as the cost-of-living crisis continues.
They must reconsider the impact of their damaging cuts on vulnerable pensioners.
Scotland Faces Snow and Soaring Energy Costs as Labour’s Fuel Payment Cuts Bitehttps://t.co/NBJX7dZljG@DaveDooganSNP pic.twitter.com/Ozp7XLgsVw
— The Highland Times (@ththighland) November 12, 2024
Storm clouds are gathering for Scots with an onslaught of snow set to land on us just as Labour’s cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment really take hold for our pensioners – with energy bills up under Sir Keir Starmer, there’s a real bleak winter coming round the corner and it’s time he acted to support hard-pressed households.
DAVE DOOGAN MP, SNP ECONOMY SPOKESPERSON
Sir Keir Starmer promised voters he would reduce energy bills by £300, but instead bills have gone up again on the Labour Party’s watch with a typical household now paying £149 more a year – instead of tackling the soaring cost of energy, the Labour government has made it even worse by increasing household energy bills by ten per cent while taking £600 in winter fuel payments from pensioners.
Labour MPs from Scotland skipped through the voting lobbies to inflict pain on Scottish pensioners, but with the freezing temperatures set to descend on Scotland next week it’s imperative we see a package of measures to slash bills, including reversing the cuts to the winter fuel payment, introducing a social tariff and finally announcing when Westminster will reduce bills by £300.
As gritters take to the streets of energy rich Scotland, it is a complete scandal that Scots will be choosing between eating or paying the highest heating bills in the land – Westminster is broken for Scotland and the Labour Party wants to do nothing about it.
