Majority Think Labour No Better Than Tories
Ahead of the ongoing Labour Party conference, the SNP said the new party of government at Westminster is failing to deliver the change it promised voters in Scotland at the UK general election.
As polls show support for the Labour Party in Scotland is plummeting, SNP House of Commons Leader Stephen Flynn said Sir Keir Starmer had shown he is “completely out of touch with people in Scotland“.
The Labour Party promised voters they would end austerity cuts but instead they’ve broken their word, taken the winter fuel payment away from millions of pensioners, pushed thousands of children into poverty, and slashed billions of pounds from public services. All while milking the system to pocket luxury freebies.
This isn’t the change we were promised. It is clearer by the day that Labourās promises arenāt worth the election leaflets they were written on.
After fourteen long years of the Tories, people want to see an end to cuts – not more misery imposed by an out of touch Labour government.
Here’s how Labour is failing people in Scotland and right across the UK:
Out of Touch
Starmer has serious questions to answer as the Labour freebies scandal grows – following an admission that Labour Education Secretary accepted a donation for her 40th birthday and fresh reports that Cabinet ministers have taken Ā£800,000 of freebies this year.
It comes amid further revelations at the weekend, including:
- Keir Starmer, his Chief of Staff Sue Gray and Foreign Secretary David Lammy enjoyed a corporate box at Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday, with lobbyists present.
- Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner took Ā£104,000 in gifts and donations since the start of the year, including a free holiday at a $2.5 million apartment in Manhattan paid for by Lord Alli, and Ā£2,230 for clothing from luxury brand clothing from ME+EM
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves admitted she took cash for designer clothes too, including Ā£7,500 since 2023 from Juliet Rosenfeld, the widow of a Labour donor caught up in the 2006 cash for honours scandal.
- Foreign Secretary David Lammy took more than Ā£150,000 of donations and gifts including a Ā£10,000 donation from a Saudi-supporting PR executive months and Ā£2,500 worth of tickets to see Tottenham Hotspur.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting received Ā£117,000 in donations and gifts, including Taylor Swift tickets at Wembley costing Ā£1,160.
- Senior Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden took gifts including tickets to see Bruce Springsteen, while Environment Secretary Steve Reed took gifts including Kylie tickets.
In total, Telegraph analysis of the MPs’ register of interests shows Labour Cabinet ministers took Ā£753,017 in donations and Ā£90,853 in gifts since the beginning of the year.
Failing Pensioners
Rachel Reeves promised to end austerity at the Labour Party conference, but just hours later refused to reverse her cuts to the winter fuel allowance – the very definition of an austerity cut.
A trade union motion to reverse the cuts to pensioners was blocked at the Labour Party conference, with Unite boss Sharon Graham saying that the Labour leadership was trying to “silence the voice of pensioners“.
In Scotland, around 860,000 pensioners will be hit and across the UK the total is aroundĀ 10 million.
Failing Families
Labour’s austerity policies, including the two child benefit cap and bedroom tax, are pushing thousands of children into poverty. In Scotland, 26,000 households are being hit and across the UK it’s nearly half a million (440,000).
At the same time, Labour’s Bedroom Tax is cutting the incomes of many of the poorest households. In Scotland, around 100,000 (99,937) households are being hit and across the UK it’s more than half a million (507,119).
While the SNP government is mitigating the impact of the Bedroom Tax on household incomes in Scotland, doing so comes at a cost of around Ā£70million a year, which could be spent elsewhere if the punitive policy was abolished by the Labour government.
Failing in the Polls
It is little wonder that all of this is translating into a collapse in support for Labour in Scotland in the polls.
Last Wednesday, a poll 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. The poll also found a majority (51%) of Scots 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“.
A further Opinium poll, released on Saturday for the Observer (on the eve of the first Labour Party Conference since they came into power), found that less than a third of people (30%) believe Keir Starmerās Labour government is better than the last Tory government and a plurality of voters (45%) think it is out of touch with ordinary people.
The same poll also found that Keir Starmerās approval rating amongst the public is at its lowest ever (-26%), worse the Rishi Sunakās, and half of people in Scotland indicate they would prefer neither politician to be Prime Minister. The polling also revealed that the public view Keir Starmer’s Labour government negatively on a number fronts including being out of touch, not sharing people’s views, being disunited, intolerant, incompetent and not having the best interests of nation at heart.
Moreover, it shows a majority of voters (57%) think the Labour government is ‘worse’ or ‘about the same’ as the last Tory government.
Only the SNP Can Offer Real Change
The earlier Survation poll showed the SNP and Labour Party 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.
After 14 years of a cruel and damaging Tory government, Scotland is now being forced to suffer an incredibly damaging Westminster Labour Government. Itās clear the problem for Scotland is government from Westminster.
The SNP is doing what it can to protect and improve lives across Scotland with the limited powers of devolution but itās clear the only way to deliver the real change Scotland deserves is with the full powers of independence.
