Scottish Labour to reintroduce universal Winter Fuel Payment after Keir Starmer cut

Scottish Labour will bring back a universal Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners if they win the next Holyrood election. Party leader Anas Sarwar will reverse a cut made by his own Labour Government.

The means-test, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has hit Scottish Labour's poll rating and insiders are worried the policy could keep the SNP in power.

Devolution of the payment, which can stretch to up to £300, has been delayed and will be under full operational control of Holyrood from next year.

Sarwar told the Record: “A Scottish Labour government will reinstate the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners in Scotland. The Winter Fuel Payment was supposed to be a devolved benefit this year and there were additional resources available to the Scottish Government through the Household Support Fund.

READ MORE: Anas Sarwar brands Labour Winter Fuel Payment cut not 'fair' as temperatures to fall to -7C

“That meant we could have taken a different approach in Scotland to support more households this year - instead, the SNP decided to hand the power back to the DWP. For months I have said that the eligibility criterion of pension credit is too low and called for a Scottish solution to this issue.

“That’s why Scottish Labour will take back this devolved power from the DWP, reinstate the Winter Fuel Payment, and deliver a fairer system to ensure that everyone who needs support gets it. A UK Labour government is clearing up the mess left by a chaotic Tory government – here in Scotland, people are demanding a new direction and in 2026 we have the opportunity to deliver it with a Scottish Labour government.”

Under Reeves' plan, the WFP will be linked to Pension Credit, meaning up to 900,000 Scots will lose the payment. Sarwar was critical of this type of means-test and is embracing a universal payment at source.

It is understood cash from wealthy pensioners could then be clawed back. With extra money coming to Holyrood from the Labour Government's Budget, Sarwar's team believes there is enough funding for the move.

Sarwar allies believe the loss of local by-elections in Edinburgh and Dundee was largely down to the Labour Government cutting WFP.

It comes after the Record revealed the SNP Government is actively considering bringing back a universal payment in their Budget in December. Such a move would prove awkward for Labour but both parties are now in the same space on a universal payment.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “This is remarkable Orwellian double-think from the Labour Party – having just cut the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners across the UK, they now expect people to believe that they are in fact on the side of pensioners.

“Anas Sarwar sat on his hands while his Westminster colleagues forced through this cut, and he must explain why Labour failed to back the reintroduction of the Winter Fuel Payment just a few weeks ago in the Scottish Parliament.

"The people of Scotland will see right through the fact that Scottish Labour's ambition for Scotland is to simply mitigate decisions made by a Westminster Labour government – by contrast, the SNP will always put Scotland first."

Green MSP Maggie Chapman said: “While it is great that Mr Sarwar has backtracked from his vote against the winter fuel payment only a few weeks ago, the idea that he would reinstate the benefit if elected in 2026 is simply not good enough. It is mid-November and temperatures have already plummeted. This time of year can be perilous to the most vulnerable groups in our country and we have to find ways to take care of them.

“The pensioners who are freezing now don’t have the time to wait for Labour politicians to find their principles or their spines - they need support in place immediately to tackle the exorbitant rates it costs to simply stay warm in their homes."

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