Westminster must go further and faster on the cost of living

With rising mortgage rates and soaring oil prices piling extra pressure onto families across Scotland, the SNP is calling on the new Prime Minister to deliver immediate action – starting with an emergency budget and real structural change.

Andy Burnham must go much further and faster to help households with the soaring cost of living, reversing the damage left by a Westminster Labour government that sees working families hundreds of pounds worse off.

News that mortgage rates and global oil prices are rising once again threatens to push household budgets over the edge.

With average two-year fixed mortgage rates reaching 5.59% and oil hitting $100 a barrel, the Bank of England projects that over five million homeowners will face steep payment hikes by 2028.

Speaking on the figures, SNP Economy spokesperson Kirsty Blackman MP said:

“The news that UK mortgage rates and oil prices are rising again will pile more painful costs and pressure onto families, who are already struggling to get by in Broken Brexit Britain.

“Families in Scotland will get no meaningful benefit from the changes announced so far, which are far too small to make a real difference. The decision to remove VAT from energy bills was welcome but it won’t come into effect until October – and it will only save average households about £3 a month, when energy bills are £600 higher than promised.

“That’s barely enough to buy a pack of baked beans or a tin of Spam – let alone take any meaningful pressure off of household spending.”

While First Minister John Swinney has made clear the Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with Downing Street, Scotland will judge this administration on results and not rhetoric.

To rebuild trust and ease the squeeze on working families, Andy Burnham could prioritise four key areas right now.

1. Deliver an emergency cost-of-living budget and reverse the tax on jobs

People in Scotland do not want warm words about “hope in their hearts” – they need money in their pockets.

Andy Burnham’s Westminster government must immediately introduce an emergency cost-of-living budget that directly addresses the economic pressures facing working families and small businesses.

He should also scrap the National Insurance tax hike as one of his first acts in government. It has been a disastrous “tax on jobs”, as rising unemployment shows.

SNP analysis shows this short-sighted policy costs Scottish businesses up to £1,053 per employee every year, creating a toxic, high-cost environment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Across the UK, unemployment has soared to 1.76 million and youth unemployment has hit an 11-year high of 16.2%. The National Insurance hike is directly choking off investment, cutting wages, and destroying jobs.

He must also tackle soaring energy bills with concrete action against a pricing regime that discriminates against Scotland’s cheap, clean energy.

Labour particularly promised Scots lower household energy bills in the 2024 election but they remain nearly £600 higher than Labour pledged at the general election.

And he must protect pensioners by immediately ditching Treasury proposals to bring forward the state pension age increase to 68 by 2037.

Forcing people to work longer completely ignores life expectancy realities, particularly in Scotland where men and women have lower average life expectancies than their counterparts in England.

2. Burnham could learn from Scotland by investing in young people and eradicating poverty

If Mr Burnham is searching for proven blueprints to improve public services and support families, he only needs to look north of the border.

He could scrap tuition fees like the SNP has in Scotland. In 2015, Andy Burnham pledged to lift the “millstone of debt” from students.

While Scottish students benefit from free higher education – graduating with £35,000 less debt on average than those in England – English students face skyrocketing costs.

Unlike Keir Starmer in 2020, Andy Burnham could honour his own words and end tuition fees across England.

Plus, following the recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes, he could also adopt Scotland’s successful scheme of free bus travel to under-22s, which has already enabled over 300 million journeys.

And Andy Burnham could go further by matching the Scottish Government’s anti-poverty action.

Under the SNP, the Scottish Government currently spends £159 million a year mitigating harsh Westminster policies like the Bedroom Tax.

By matching successful Scottish initiatives like the Scottish Child Payment nationwide, Andy Burnham’s government could lift 1.1 million children out of poverty overnight.

3. Andy Burnham must end Westminster damage to Scotland’s energy sector

Scotland’s energy wealth should be used for the benefit of the people of Scotland.

Instead, for decades, Westminster has treated our resources as a cash cow while undermining our net-zero transition.

As Kirsty Blackman also said: “Scotland is an energy-rich country — and we should be reaping the benefits of our huge energy wealth.”

“Instead, the UK government has syphoned it off to Westminster and left Scottish families paying some of the highest bills in Europe. It shows why real change can only come with independence.”

Mr Burnham should act quickly to:

End the Tories’ energy profits supertax which Keir Starmer continued imposing. This current punitive tax regime is destroying an estimated 1,000 energy sector jobs every month in the North Sea. Jobs and skills which are essential to move towards greater renewable energy production in Scotland.

Support the ‘Just Transition‘ in Scotland by safeguarding Scottish supply chains and energy workers rather than forcing the UK to rely on carbon-intensive liquid natural gas (LNG) imports shipped from overseas.

And he should devolve energy powers to the Scottish Parliament so Scotland can manage its own natural riches sustainably, unlike the short-sightedness we repeatedly get with Westminster.

4. Andy Burnham should respect Scottish democracy and transfer referendum powers

When Andy Burnham enters 10 Downing Street, he inherits a broken Westminster system – something he has acknowledged himself.

After two years of a Westminster Labour government that promised “hope and change” only to deliver soaring living costs, rising unemployment, and the continuation of damaging Tory-era policies, the public is rightfully weary of empty promises.

A meaningful and defining reset in Scottish and Westminster government relations can only be cemented if Andy Burnham transfers the powers to hold an independence referendum to the Scottish Parliament.

Any meaningful respect for Scottish democracy cannot be built on Westminster dictating terms. In fact, in the 2014 referendum, the ‘No’ campaign explicitly promised that such a power lay with the people of Scotland.

It requires genuine mutual respect and an immediate end to the Westminster arrogance we saw from the Tories and continued by Keir Starmer.

Reports that Andy Burnham told a secret meeting of Labour MPs that he intends to block an independence referendum show an alarming willingness to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors.

His appointment of failed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to the Lords just underlines a further contempt for Scottish opinion.

Sticking his head in the sand and pretending “Westminster knows best” will not work. Nor can he ignore the unprecedented fact that all three devolved nations in the UK are now led by pro-independence first ministers.

He should respect the Scottish Parliament’s mandate. Following the Scottish election, MSPs voted by a decisive majority of 72 to 55 for a Section 30 order to devolve referendum powers.

Scotland’s future must be in the hands of the people of Scotland – not decided in backroom Westminster chats with Scottish Labour politicians who have stuck their heads in the sand and ignored the fact they suffered their worst ever election result in Scotland.

Andy Burnham has no electoral mandate and should transfer the powers for an independence referendum so the Scottish public can exercise their democratic right to self-determination.