Sir Keir Starmer has sold Austerity Anas down the river

by the SNP
Posted on
4 weeks ago
3 min read

The boss of Labour’s branch office in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, must be feeling pretty embarrassed right now.

It’s little surprise then that he was even testier than usual in parliament last week.

Having taken every opportunity to grab the spotlight during the general election campaign, he was the voice of Labour in Scotland. He said loudly and often that there would be no austerity under a Labour government in Westminster, and that Labour would cut your energy bills.

Today, as Scottish Labour MPs in the Commons voted to strip pensioners of their vital winter fuel payment while energy costs are set to rise 10%, it’s clear Labour misled Scottish voters time and time again.

Anas Sarwar was even unable to give a straight answer as to whether or not he faced up to Rachel Reeves on the fuel payment cut.

With the mask slipping and his authority rapidly draining away, he must be feeling pretty betrayed by Sir Keir Starmer.

It’s Labour’s austerity now

“Read my lips,” Anas Sarwar promised during one televised election debate. “No austerity under Labour.”

Since that fateful statement – which will likely haunt Anas Sarwar for the next five years of slashed spending, tax hikes and screeching u-turns – Sir Keir has embarked on a brutal programme of austerity.

He has confirmed that Labour will not abolish the rape clause, which forces women to prove they were raped to claim tax credits.

He has rejected calls to scrap the bedroom tax – which taxes the most vulnerable families in (often inadequate) social housing, simply for having spare bedrooms.

He has refused to listen to think tanks, charities and impoverished families on the two-child cap – a benefits measure that has been found to directly keep thousands of children in poverty.

And now, as Labour votes to withdraw the winter fuel payment for pensioners, it must be becoming clear to even Anas Sarwar that his boss has taken him for a ride.

What Scotland? Labour MPs serve Sir Keir Starmer now

Even Anas Sarwar’s own MPs don’t listen to him.

From the two- child cap to the winter fuel payment, he might get the chance to lay out his thinking – often after a lot of dithering and dodging the issues.

But it must be dawning on even Anas that his MPs belong to Sir Keir Starmer now.

He might have misled the public to get them elected and humiliated himself on the airwaves, but his MPs will vote as a block.

Not to stand up for Scottish communities – or even to toe the line that Anas sets for Labour’s Scottish branch office. They’ll vote as a block to protect Sir Keir Starmer, selling out the activists, staff members and voters who wrongly thought they’d be a strong voice for Scotland.

The SNP will always stand up for you and your family

No political party gets everything right all of the time.

But Anas Sarwar and Labour either foolishly or deliberately misled Scottish voters to elect 37 Labour MPs – all of whom will fail to stand up for Scotland and serve Sir Keir instead.

Scotland’s MPs should be fierce advocates for their communities and defenders when need be.

Of course politicians need to be flexible – but Labour’s own research suggests that Sir Keir’s austerity policies will put pensioners in harm’s way this winter.

Labour MPs were vocal when similar research was just as damning about the austerity of Cameron, Osborne and the Tories. Will they be brave enough to find their voice when it’s their own party’s policies putting people as risk? Judging from today, it looks like they’ll offer nothing but stony silence.

Those 37 MPs could have been relentless fighters for Scotland. Where they fail, the SNP will deliver.

We will continue to hold their feet to the fire, keep Starmer accountable, and speak up for Scotland.

Always.