THE SNP have branded successive Westminster governments’ treatment of old people "immoral".
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the UK Government's cut to the Winter Fuel Payment, which will no longer be available to all those over the pension age, reducing the number of people eligible from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.
Reeves said there was a £22 billion black hole in the public finances as she accused the Tories of covering up the scale of the problems.
Removing the payment for millions of pensioners will save £1.5 billion per year, she claimed, while announcing there was a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.
People born before September 25, 1957 were previously able to get between £100 and £300 to help pay heating bills.
Now, only those households with someone aged over state pension age who get Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance will continue to receive Winter Fuel Payments.
The SNP hit out at the decision, highlighting that the same measure was considered by the Tories last year, with the Labour Party strongly opposing it and saying that “pensioners mustn’t be forced to bear the brunt of Tory economic failure.”
Now, SNP MSP Emma Harper has taken aim again at Labour, saying pensioners will now “bear the brunt of Labour’s austerity agenda”.
In the General Election campaign, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar emphatically rejected a return to austerity under a Labour government, saying in a BBC debate, “Read my lips – no austerity under Labour”.
Speaking on Thursday, he said the Government was not returning to austerity, but “getting on with fixing the mess left by this rotten Tory government that completely destroyed the public finances and - let’s be clear - hid the truth from the public”.
Harper (above), meanwhile, told the Sunday National: “For too long, pensioners have suffered under Westminster governments that break promises and disregard their concerns.
“And it appears that is unlikely to change under this Labour government.
“With an abysmal record on pension provision, giving those who have worked their whole life barely enough to live on, they are now cutting vital support in an attempt to stick to Tory fiscal rules.
“The SNP repeatedly warned of the cuts that would come to pass but it is no less disappointing to see Labour enact them, inflicting enormous harm on the most vulnerable.
“This Labour government must change tack and reverse their plans for more austerity, otherwise Scottish pensioners will pay the price.”
