MPs will vote on Tuesday to strip the benefit from all but the UK’s poorest pensioners.
The Scotland Office should give Holyrood its £150 million fund for fighting poverty to cancel out the winter fuel payment cuts, Stephen Flynn has said.The move has been criticised by trade unions and opposition parties – as well as some within Labour.
The Scottish Government has delayed plans to provide a similar universal benefit this winter through the devolved social security system due to a lack of funding.Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday, SNP Westminster leader Flynn suggested funding destined for the Scotland Office could be used to fund the benefit.
“We could, of course, see the Secretary of State for Scotland, who appears to have been awarded £150 million from the Treasury, use that funding to fill the gap which is being created by his own Prime Minister of Scotland, which is going to impact pensioners in Scotland,” he said. Scottish politics Speaking to the BBC later, newly-elected Labour MP Blair McDougall said his “jaw hit the ground” when he heard Flynn’s suggestion.
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