THE SNP have challenged Keir Starmer to “U-turn on his Winter Fuel Payment cuts and end the Labour Party’s damaging obsession with austerity”, ahead of his conference speech today.
With the Labour Party plummeting in the polls, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn MP said “voters in Scotland understandably feel betrayed over Labour’s cuts and broken promises”.
A poll yesterday showed that three in five voters, or 60% of voters, believe Starmer’s party will not manage a second term in power, despite sweeping to victory in a historic landslide less than three months ago.
The poll, by the More in Common think tank, also found that 52% believed Starmer would not be leading Labour into the next General Election, due in 2029.
The party has faced intense criticism in recent weeks over a growing row about ministers – including the Prime Minister – taking freebies from lobbyists and donors, especially Labour peer Waheed Alli.
There is also a pay row at the heart of government with special advisers reportedly angry about the bumper pay packet being collected by Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray – who is paid more than the Prime Minister and is said to have signed off on effective pay cuts for officials.
The More in Common poll found that one in five Labour voters now regretted backing the party and recorded a popularity rating of -20 for Starmer. This is consistent with other research which has found the Labour leader is increasingly unpopular.
He has faced fierce criticism from his political opponents for the decision to deny the Winter Fuel Payment to around 10 million pensioners.
Labour won just 33.7% of the popular vote on July 4 and the paper reported that even a modest Conservative recovery would see Starmer out of Downing Street.
Flynn said: “We were promised change but, instead, Scotland has been short-changed and families across the country are paying the price as Keir Starmer wields the axe. There’s a growing feeling among voters that the Labour Government is just as bad as the Tories – lining their pockets with £800,000 of freebies, while they balance the books on the backs of the poor. A life of luxury for them, austerity cuts for the rest of us.”
He went on “After months of misery and scandal, Sir Keir Starmer must use his speech today to press the reset button by U-turning on his Winter Fuel Payment cuts and ending the Labour Party’s damaging obsession with austerity.
“There’s a growing feeling among voters that the Labour government is just as bad as the Tories – lining their pockets with £800,000 of freebies, while they balance the books on the backs of the poor. A life of luxury for them; painful austerity cuts for the rest of us.
“Voters in Scotland understandably feel betrayed over Labour’s cuts and broken promises. We were promised change but, instead, Scotland has been short-changed and families across the country are paying the price as Keir Starmer wields the axe. Governments are defined by the choices they make.
“It’s vital he changes course, stops copying the Tories and starts delivering the step change voters were promised.”
