Why SNP’s brazen winter giveaway for pensioners may owe something to Scottish Labour leaving Starmer red-faced
It was the SNP’s Stephen Flynn’s claim at PMQs that Sir Keir Starmer “promised to protect pensioners only to pick their pockets for their winter fuel allowance” that prompted rock legend Roger Daltrey to applaud loudly from the visitor’s gallery.
And now, for an encore, 24 hours later the SNP government at Holyrood announced that every pensioner in Scotland will receive a winter payment next year. It’s a move the SNP hopes will be a smash hit with 900,000 Scots pensioners.
But hold on a minute. From next year, pensioners in Scotland who qualify for benefits like pension credit will get £200 or £300, depending on their age. That’s the same as Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already taken away.
But all other Scottish pensioners will only receive £100. So the pre-Christmas giveaway from John Swinney’s SNP government north of the border is not quite as generous as it sounds, though £100 is better than nothing!
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Indeed, the Scottish Tories have already accused Mr Swinney and his Holyrood ministers of “hoodwinking ” Scotland’s pensioners by pretending the full winter fuel payment axed by Ms Reeves was being restored.
But the SNP’s gesture is about more than just cash. It’s a brazenly political move aimed not just at embarrassing Sir Keir and Ms Reeves but also outflanking Labour’s leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar.
That’s because Mr Sarwar, who hopes to end nearly 20 years of SNP rule at Holyrood in elections to the Scottish parliament in 2026, has already pledged to re-introduce winter fuel payments in Scotland, leaving Sir Keir red-faced.
That promise led to the SNP accusing Mr Sarwar of “staggering hypocrisy”. Yet the SNP government has also been under pressure to introduce a package to compensate Scotland’s pensioners for the UK government’s cut.
At first, Mr Swinney’s government claimed they didn’t have the power to give a winter fuel payment to pensioners. But the opportunity to attempt to humiliate Mr Sarwar proved irresistible, prompting a U-turn.
But it does appear that Mr Sarwar’s pledge bounced Mr Swinney into bringing forward his U-turn from next week’s Scottish budget, after Labour threatened to force votes at Holyrood.
At the general election in July, Labour staged a huge comeback in Scotland, winning 36 seats from the SNP, with the nationalists suffering a meltdown.
Mr Sarwar will hope that’s a launchpad for victory at Holyrood in 18 months. And the battle between Labour and the SNP over winter fuel payments confirms that the 2026 election campaign is already under way.
And as for Roger Daltrey, he’s due to play solo gigs in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee in April and May next year. And this time it’ll be the Scots who are applauding him loudly, no doubt.