Give Holyrood Scotland Office funding for winter fuel payment, says Flynn

The Scotland Office should give Holyrood its reported £150 million fund earmarked for anti-poverty measures to offset the cut to the winter fuel payment, the SNP’s Westminster leader has said.

MPs will vote on Tuesday to strip the benefit from all but the UK’s poorest pensioners in what could be the toughest day for Sir Keir Starmer so far in his tenure as Prime Minister.

The move has been criticised by trade unions and opposition parties – as well as some within Labour – with the SNP stressing the impact of the issue in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has delayed plans to provide a similar universal benefit this winter through the devolved social security system due to a lack of funding, citing a loss of £160 million through the decision taken by the UK Government.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday, Stephen Flynn suggested funding destined for the Scotland Office could be used to fund the benefit.

Some £150 million is reported to be available from the department for local councils to tackle poverty.

“We could, of course, see the Secretary of State for Scotland, who appears to have been awarded £150 million from the Treasury, use that funding to fill the gap which is being created by his own Prime Minister of Scotland, which is going to impact pensioners in Scotland,” he said.

“I’m sure Ian Murray would be more than happy to give up the funding, which has been made available to the Scotland Office, as I understand it, which is almost entirely comparable with the winter fuel payment cut that’s coming to pensioners in Scotland.”

Speaking to the BBC later, newly-elected Labour MP Blair McDougall said his “jaw hit the ground” when he heard Mr Flynn’s suggestion.

“What he is suggesting there is to take £150 million out of anti-poverty measures to restore the winter fuel payment to the wealthiest pensioners,” he said.

“I perfectly understand why some people find this a very difficult vote today, but when Stephen Flynn votes with the Conservatives today, it’s clear that what he is saying is that he wants to remove £150 million from poverty measures to restore money to wealthier pensioners.”

Mr McDougall went on to say he was “not pretending this is an easy choice”, but it is necessary due to public finances being “catastrophic”.

The East Renfrewshire MP – who headed the Better Together campaign which campaigned to keep Scotland in the UK in the lead up to the 2014 independence referendum – said the Conservatives “on the way out the door have salted the earth and now have the cheek to ask why nothing is growing”.

Scottish Conservative spokesman for social justice, housing and equalities Miles Briggs said: “This was a shameless attempt by Blair McDougall to rewrite history in order to defend Labour selling out millions of pensioners.

“Labour were repeatedly warned by independent analysts during the election campaign that their spending plans didn’t add up, yet now their MPs are queueing up to claim the Chancellor’s decision to hammer pensioners was forced upon them.

“Blair McDougall was right to say politics is about choices – and Labour has chosen to hand double-digit pay rises to public sector staff at the same time as removing a benefit that could result in elderly people shivering to death this winter.

“It’s the same callous choice that the SNP – who have mismanaged Scotland’s finances for years – have replicated here.”