6 hours Ago By Martina Bet
LABOUR is under pressure to reinstate all winter fuel payments after the SNP said it will deliver them in Scotland. Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville today confirmed pensioners on Pension Credit will get £200 or £300, while all others will get £100. Ms Somerville told MSPs: “We will not abandon older people this winter or any winter.
“We will do our best to make sure no-one has to make a decision between heating and eating, and we will continue to protect pensioners.” But the payments will not begin until late 2025, leaving 900,000 Scots unsupported this winter . It follows the UK Government’s decision to scrap winter fuel payments , restricting them to pensioners on benefits and slashing Scotland’s funding by £150million.
READ MORE IN POLITICS The SNP’s move has also piled pressure on Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar , who has promised to restore all payments if Labour wins there in 2026. Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s cuts have been blamed for Labour’s poll slump in Scotland since the general election . Adding to the party’s troubles, union giant Unite has launched legal action against Sir Keir Starmer ’s Government over the policy, branding it “cruel.
” Unite’s General Secretary Sharon Graham called for the courts to reverse the decision, but government figures insist the policy is legally watertight. Most read in Money.
