Labour's Anas Sarwar would rein in benefits spending such as Scottish Child Payment under 'new direction'

Anas Sarwar has signalled his party could shift away from benefits spending as the primary method to tackle child poverty - in a move leading to accusations the Scottish Labour leader is “echoing the Tories”.

The Glasgow MSP was speaking as he unveiled his plans for “a new direction for Scotland”, accusing SNP ministers of having “broken their promises to the Scottish people” and “blown their chance to deliver”.

Anas Sarwar has sent out his vision for ‘a new direction for Scotland’ | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Mr Sarwar told journalists that Scotland cannot “pretend that one single benefit or payment has the answer” to child poverty.

He warned that “the uncomfortable fact is that we can’t end poverty with welfare alone” - pointing to a need to “create more decent well paid jobs”.

The suggestion marks a clear change in approach from Mr Sarwar, who in his 2021 Holyrood manifesto promised to double the Scottish Child Payment, accelerate the rollout of the benefit for under-16s and offer an additional £5 a week for families with disabled children.

READ MORE: How Scotland's two governments' new-found co-operation could be poised to turn sour

Pressed about a previous ambition from Scottish Labour to hike the Scottish child payment to £40 a week, with analysis showing it could lift 20,000 children out of poverty, Mr Sarwar suggested he would now need to “look at the reality of where we are in our economics”, meaning it would need to be reassessed in the current financial climate.

The SNP has seized on Mr Sarwar’s suggestion and called on him to be upfront with his plans around social security.

SNP MSP Collette Stevenson said: "Anas Sarwar has decided to kick off 2025 echoing the Tories - if he wants to cut vital supports such as the Scottish Child Payment he should come out and say it.

"It is clear that Scottish Labour has no ambition for Social Security Scotland other than to turn it into a replica DWP - with all the cruel sanctions and policies that go along with it.

"The SNP government has put forward a budget that provides hope to the people of Scotland, ensuring those who need support the most get it. It is up to opposition MSPs to examine their conscience and back it."

With the Scottish Government’s spending on social security set to approach £7 billion in next year’s Budget, around 14 per cent of the total revenue spending, Mr Sarwar has opened the door to the possibility that under his leadership, the spending could be reined in.

Labour UK Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, has said that under her leadership, “the DWP will shift from being a department for welfare to being a department for work".

Anas Sarwar has warned against increased social security spending | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Speaking in Glasgow, Mr Sarwar said: “The SNP wants to pretend that one single benefit or payment has the answer. The uncomfortable fact is that we can’t end poverty with welfare alone.

“To end poverty we need to get our economy moving, our public services working and create more decent, well-paid jobs.

“The frustration that I’m expressing today, and I think many people across the country will feel, is that we have this pretense in Scotland that somehow welfare is the only route out of poverty.

“The harsh reality is that there is a multidisciplinary approach required if we are to end child poverty.”

READ MORE: Swinney warns voting down SNP budget risks 'feeding forces of anti-politics'

The Scottish Labour leader said “having higher and higher welfare payments” whilst taking funding out of frontline education, NHS and housing services, would “undermine the very fight you claim to be fighting for”.

“If we are going to end child poverty in Scotland, it requires a multidisciplinary approach where a government stops looking to fight and protest against another government, but actually uses the power it has to defeat poverty in Scotland,” he said.

Reform of public sector services is set to be a key part of Mr Sarwar’s pitch to voters in the 2026 Holyrood election.

The Scottish Labour leader insisted “it is clear that Scotland needs a new direction”, stressing voters in 2026 will face a choice over whether “we continue with the managed decline under the SNP or do we change direction”.

Mr Sarwar said “our country is not delivering what hard-working tax-paying Scots deserve”, claiming that “Scotland 2025 is a nation where the SNP has weakened every institution”.

He added: “In short, our country is stuck. Stuck in a rut where Scots have to wait too long for healthcare, feel insecure both economically and often in their communities, and fear for the future opportunities of their children.”

Mr Sarwar said “it is clear to see that this SNP is not the party that it was, that it has lost its way, has run of steam and run out of ideas, is now incompetent in government and is bad with your money”.