Exclusive:Sarwar denies Starmer's U-turns are too late to salvage election chances as Labour has 'steadied the ship'
The UK government is mulling over finally scrapping the two-child benefit cap after pressure from the SNP.
Anas Sarwar has refuted suggestions Keir Starmer mulling reversing unpopular policies has come too late to help salvage his ambition of power at Holyrood next year - insisting the UK government is “steadying the ship”.
Mr Sarwar’s suggestion came as the SNP claimed that the Scottish Government was forced to spend £90.5m last year to mitigate Labour’s “cruel” policies.
The Scottish Labour leader was speaking amid speculation the UK government, following intense pressure including from the SNP, is considering axing the controversial two-child benefit cap.
The policy, introduced by the Conservatives at Westminster, has been criticised for exacerbating child poverty - with the Scottish Government pledging to mitigate the policy at Holyrood after Labour failed to abolish the cap.
UK Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC that her Government was “certainly looking at” scrapping the cap as part of a child poverty task force, stressing that “nothing’s off the table”, but warning it was “not straightforward” as “the costs are high”.
Labour’s polling with the Scottish and UK public has plummeted amid a series of unpopular policies brought forward since the party secured power last July.
Asked by The Scotsman whether the benefit cap being scrapped would come too late to revive his party’s polling ahead of next year’s election, Mr Sarwar said Labour was clear last year that “we were only going to make promises we knew we could keep”, adding that was why “there wasn’t the firm commitment to deal with the issue”.
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“If the financial conditions allow, then I hope we can make progress on this really, really important issue”, he added.
“It demonstrates that this Labour government is steadying the ship and actually you are seeing the benefits of that.”
The Scottish Labour leader pointed to interest and mortgage rates falling, but warned energy bills needed to drop at a steeper rate.
Asked whether the public felt energy bills have not dropped as quick as promised by Labour, Mr Sarwar stressed the party had pledged to lower costs by £300 “by the end of the parliament” in 2029.
He added: “It is good that energy bills have now started to come down.
“The challenge in all of these things is that we had a UK government over the last 14 years and a Scottish Government here for the last 18 years that have promised big things on renewable things and on more jobs and lower bills and has not delivered.
“Do we have to go further and faster on bringing down people’s bills? Absolutely. The reason why is people are really struggling right now in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.”
Mr Sarwar’s suggestion came as the SNP claimed that the Scottish Government was forced to spend £90.5m last year to mitigate Labour’s “cruel” policies.
The SNP has pointed to figures that show that between April 2024 and March 2025, 141,985 Discretionary Housing Payment awards were made across Scotland, helping households avoid rent arrears, eviction, and homelessness, caused or exacerbated by UK government policies.
The party has pointed to SNP ministers allocating £74.8m to mitigate the bedroom tax in full, £7.8m to offset the benefit cap and £7.9m for other housing related hardship payments.
SNP MSP Bob Doris said: “Labour’s first year in government has proven one thing, they might have changed the faces in Downing Street, but they haven’t changed a single cruel policy, and have instead continued Tory austerity.
“While Labour imposes cuts from Westminster, it’s the SNP standing up for Scotland and delivering real support where it’s most needed, protecting families from the bedroom tax and shielding them from the benefit cap.”
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