Latest news with #HolyroodElection
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer rules out second Scottish independence referendum while PM
Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out holding another Scottish independence referendum during his premiership, even if the SNP wins next year's Holyrood election. The Prime Minister said staging a second vote on breaking up Britain is 'not a priority' and John Swinney had not raised it during their discussions. He said his stance would not change even if the SNP wins a fifth term in office at the May 2026 Scottish Parliament election, or there is a majority of independence-supporting MSPs in the Holyrood chamber. Speaking after he launched his Government's strategic defence review in Scotland, he said he would continue to focus on 'jobs, energy, security and dealing with the cost of living crisis'. But Mr Swinney said it was 'completely unacceptable' for the independence movement 'to be thwarted by a Westminster government that just folds its arms and says no'. The row erupted last month after the First Minister relaunched his independence campaign to break up Britain in a keynote speech marking a year until the election. He said he wanted to restart the debate as voters were feeling 'disaffected and alienated' with Sir Keir's performance in government. Mr Swinney also argued the rise of Reform UK showed Scotland needed independence, despite polls showing a surge in support for Nigel Farage's party north of the Border.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer backtracked on winter fuel cut ‘amid fears of electoral disaster'
Sir Keir Starmer performed an about-turn on winter fuel payments after being warned by senior Labour figures that his decision to cut the benefit would spell disaster at the polls in Scotland. The Telegraph understands that in recent weeks, senior Scottish Labour figures have been lobbying the Prime Minister to reverse his decision to cut the annual payment to OAPs. They are said to have warned him the move had inflicted serious damage on the party's hopes of making big gains in next year's Holyrood election. A series of polls have shown that support for Labour has collapsed in Scotland, particularly among pensioners, with Nigel Farage's Reform UK threatening to become the second-largest party in Holyrood. In addition, Scottish Labour insiders were worried that the cut was undermining the party's campaign in a by-election for Holyrood's Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat, scheduled for June 5. Imogen Walker, the Labour MP who holds the equivalent Hamilton and Clyde Valley seat at Westminster, is married to Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir's chief of staff and political svengali. Although the SNP is expected to comfortably win the by-election, Labour is facing the threat of being pushed into third place by Reform in what would be a big humiliation. Sir Keir's decision to means-test winter fuel payment applied to all pensioners in England and Wales, with control over the benefit devolved to SNP ministers at Holyrood. But John Swinney, the First Minister, has argued that he had no choice but to follow suit as the decision south of the border led to a £147 million reduction in the SNP government's funding through the Barnett formula. The payment of between £100 and £300 went to 130,000 Scottish OAPs in receipt of pension credit and other means-tested benefits last winter – 900,000 fewer than the previous year. Mr Swinney then used the record funding his government received from Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, to announce that all pensioners would receive a payment of at least £100 before this winter. Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, then tried to limit the political damage to his party by promising to reinstate the full benefit of up to £300 if he became first minister after next year's election. However, his pledge appeared to cut little ice with voters, with polls showing no sign of support for Scottish Labour recovering. Mr Sarwar welcomed the Prime Minister's rethink, tweeting: 'Last year I made it clear that a Scottish Labour government led by me will reinstate the winter fuel payment.' Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, said the Chancellor ' had to stabilise the economy ' when she announced the cut to the benefit 'and now we're seeing the fruits of that'. But Mr Swinney tweeted: 'A reminder to everyone in Scotland that Labour cut the winter fuel payment for pensioners and @theSNP brought it back.' The social media post included a picture of himself with Katy Loudon, the SNP candidate in the by-election, in front of a campaign billboard. The left-hand side of the poster was red and contained a picture of Sir Keir with the slogan: 'Labour cut your winter fuel payment.' The right-hand side was yellow with an image of Mr Swinney with the caption: 'The SNP is bringing it back.' Stephen Flynn, the SNP's Westminster leader, said: 'Voters have lost trust in the Labour Party, which has broken the promises it made at the election. Keir Starmer is scraping around in desperation to recover the ground he has lost, but the damage is already done. Trust in his Government is broken.' 'Righting their own wrong' Liz Smith, the Scottish Tories' shadow social security secretary, said: 'Labour's decision was quickly followed by the SNP in Scotland, who are now trying to also claim credit for partially righting their own wrong, which won't fool the nearly one million Scots pensioners who were hit by that decision. 'Which pensioner will ever trust Keir Starmer again over the winter fuel payment, given his constant shift in position on it?' Adam Stachura, the director of policy at Age Scotland, said: 'While there is very little detail of how it will be reintroduced in other parts of the UK, it is vital that any new money coming to Scotland as a result is used by the Scottish Government to directly increase the pension age winter heating payment.'
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Richard Tice: Reform will be main opposition in Scotland if Labour keeps ‘messing up'
Reform will be the main opposition in Scotland after next year's Holyrood election if Labour keeps 'messing up' in government, Richard Tice has said after a poll showed his party in second place north of the border. Mr Tice, Reform's deputy leader, told The Telegraph that a survey published on Wednesday predicting his party would finish ahead of the Tories and Labour in the May 2026 contest was only one poll. But he predicted that Reform would achieve second place if Sir Keir Starmer 's Government kept 'messing up', saying this would lead to 'more and more people' being willing to consider voting for his party. In particular, he attacked the UK Government's net zero agenda, highlighting the decision this week by the UK's largest oil and gas producer to cut 250 jobs in Aberdeen. Harbour Energy said it had to take 'difficult steps', blaming regulation and the Chancellor's 'punitive fiscal position'. Mr Tice also attacked John Swinney's 'pathetic' argument in a speech on Wednesday that the rise of Reform meant that Scotland needed another independence referendum. He argued that independence was 'dead and buried' and the SNP's recent defeat at the Supreme Court, which ruled that trans women are not women, showed that 'common sense' was returning to Scotland. An analysis of the poll conducted by Sir John Curtice, Britain's most eminent psephologist, predicted the SNP will remain by far the largest party at Holyrood after next year's election, with 58 seats. But the analysis predicted that Reform would finish second on 21 seats, ahead of Labour, led by Anas Sarwar, with 18, while the number of Tory MSPs would plummet from 31 to only 13. The results exceeded Mr Tice's prediction in March, when he told The Telegraph that Reform was hoping to finish ahead of Labour in votes but not seats. He said 'the pressure is on to keep that position' and the poll and last week's English council election results showed that voters were 'raging mad' at the Tories and Labour. Asked about the prediction that Reform would finish second in the Holyrood election, he said: 'We've just got to keep working hard and if Labour keeps messing up then more and more people will say, 'Let's have a look at these guys'.' Mr Tice said Scots 'don't want to lose tens of thousands of jobs' in the North Sea under Labour's net zero agenda. He added: 'The SNP's mismanagement is there for all to see.' Sir John warned Reform's success would lead to a further 'fracturing' of the Unionist vote in Scotland, helping the SNP win first-past-the-post constituency seats in next year's election. Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, also argued that 'a vote for Reform is a gift to the SNP' as it would split the Unionist vote. But Mr Tice argued that last week's local English election results, in which his party routed the Conservatives, 'proved that if you vote Tory in Scotland then you get the SNP'. His intervention came as a third Tory councillor in Aberdeenshire defected to Reform. John Crawley's decision meant Nigel Farage's party has 11 Scottish councillors, most of whom were formerly Conservatives. Mr Crawley said his decision to quit the Tories 'comes in response to a continued lack of integrity and respect within the party particularly locally and towards fellow councillors'. A Scottish Tory spokesman said: 'Under Russell Findlay, we're reconnecting with common sense conservative values of enterprise, self-reliance, fiscal responsibility and the rule of law. 'Every poll shows that Reform will only help the SNP. As we saw in last year's General Election, they handed several seats to the SNP which would have otherwise gone to a pro-UK party.'
