LIZ SMITH: SNP's shameful betrayal over winter fuel will not be forgotten - or forgiven

Daily Mail​

5 hours ago

Yesterday's latest U-turn by John Swinney over his government's policy on the universal winter fuel payment was, if anything, even more humiliating, unprincipled and deceitful than the one Rachel Reeves performed last week.
The SNP furiously protested after the UK Chancellor's shameful decision to abolish the allowance last year that they had no option but to follow suit.
That is always the first rule in the Nationalists' playbook – blame someone, anyone, else rather than accept responsibility for unpopular decisions.
The reality is that the SNP had the money to make the payment this year.
They had the devolved power for future years to continue providing a winter fuel payment – just as they do with a number of other benefits.
The fact that some of them are financially irresponsible and place an unsustainable strain on public spending doesn't seem to hold them back.
But provided with Labour's example, they had no hesitation in following suit.
Then, when the impact of their policy on the most vulnerable pensioners became clear and – more importantly, from their point of view – it also became apparent just how unpopular it was, the Nats suddenly announced that they would reintroduce payments.
And, John Swinney declared with great fanfare, it would be universal. Though he made less noise about the fact that some people would see the payment cut by £200.
Now, in a broken promise which is breathtaking even by the First Minister's standards, he's changed his mind about that. We learned yesterday that hundreds of thousands of pensioners will not, after all, qualify for the SNP's version of the allowance.
At the same time, he's announced two separate rates, at £203.40 and £305.10 – figures which seem to have been picked solely so that the SNP can claim that they are being more generous than the UK government.
That childish and cynical attempt at one-upmanship and deliberately misleading rates is exactly the sleight-of-hand approach that the Nationalists took with income tax, when they made Scotland the highest taxed part of the country.
Mr Swinney constantly claims most Scots pay less, but never mentions those sums are a few pounds, while the majority of working Scots, who are hit by their punitive rates, are often paying several thousands more.
The Labour government's decision to abolish the universal winter fuel payment was, of course, a straight betrayal of their election promises.
It was a cruel and vindictive assault on vulnerable pensioners. And, as we've learned from its reversal in Rachel Reeves' spending review, it was all completely unnecessary.
We were told at the time that it was essential to plug an unexpected 'black hole' in the public finances.
That contradicted what Rachel Reeves said before the election, when she accepted that there couldn't be any surprises because of the Office for Budget Review's (OBR) figures. And the OBR, it turned out, couldn't find any sign of the black hole she blamed.
Now the Chancellor claims that she has fixed this imaginary shortfall and put the economy on a sound footing, so she can afford to reverse the cut.
It is impossible to find a single credible economic analyst who does not say that this is obvious nonsense.
The economy is stalling. Economic inactivity is worsening. Borrowing is going through the roof.
All the economic experts are united in the view that the Chancellor will be back in the autumn, and that she will be announcing very substantial tax rises.
But in SNP-run Scotland – where the government has already made emergency budgets an annual event – things will be even worse.
The economic pain will be amplified by the SNP's wasteful and irresponsible spending which, even with the Union dividend and John Swinney's punitive higher taxes, greatly exceeds their income.
Over the course of this disgraceful policy shambles, Labour's approach has been dishonest and needlessly created real suffering and anxiety for pensioners.
But, if anything, the SNP have managed to make matters worse.
The constant chopping and changing by ministers is causing more needless anxiety for Scottish pensioners.
Their latest announcement is confusing. But one point is clear – hundreds of thousands of Scots will not have the payment even partially restored – despite John Swinney's promise that they would.
It's a shameful betrayal that will not be forgotten or forgiven by Scotland's pensioners.