A SCOTTISH Labour MP has been accused of “embarrassing” themselves after making a false claim about the SNP government.
Lillian Jones, who represents Kilmarnock and Loudoun for Labour, wrongly claimed that the Scottish Government had already “made a decision to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment” before the General Election as she defended voting to scrap the payments for millions.
Jones, who quit her role as an East Ayrshire councillor in September, made the claim after an SNP councillor hit out at her backing for the cut on social media.
Jones was one of 35 Scottish Labour MPs to fall into line behind their UK party bosses and vote to cut the Winter Fuel Payment on Tuesday evening.
The Labour government has insisted that the controversial move was necessary to tackle a £22 billion “black hole” in the UK’s finances it says it only discovered after it took power.
I am sure Kilmarnock & Loudoun pensioners will remember how @lillianjonesmp voted this afternoon. Read my lips - no backbone under 'Scottish' Labour! https://t.co/bYzDpTVj35
— Cllr Graham Barton (@GrahamBartonSNP) September 10, 2024
Following the vote in the House of Commons, SNP councillor Graham Barton posted on Twitter/X: “I am sure Kilmarnock and Loudoun pensioners will remember how @lillianjonesmp voted this afternoon.”
He also referenced Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s pre-election pledge that there would be no austerity under a Labour government, writing: “Read my lips – no backbone under 'Scottish' Labour!”
Jones responded by posting a link to a news story in the Daily Record along with the comment: “SNP decision to means-test Winter Fuel Payment four months BEFORE the General Election.”
However, another SNP councillor, Clare Maitland, hit back, pointing out that the Scottish Government had made no such decision at the time and that the story made no reference to the claim made by the MP.
Instead the story reported on a consultation on the future of the Winter Fuel Payment. The Scottish Government only made a decision on means-testing after the UK Government announced its own plans, which meant some £160 million less money would flow down through Barnett Consequentials.
In a response to the Scottish Government consultation, the Poverty and Inequality Commission expressed a view that a more targeted approach to payments would be more effective in tackling poverty than a universal payment.
The same article also reported that another group, Age Scotland, opposed any move away from a universal payment, warning that it could impact many vulnerable older people.
Maitland added: “You’re wrong. The article doesn’t say that. If true it would have been all over the media.
“Your post is embarrassing, but your vote is shameful.”
Labour and Scottish Labour have been approached for comment.
