No £150m 'war chest' to tackle child poverty, Labour warns

Scottish secretary Ian Murray has said he does not have a £150m “war chest” to tackle poverty in Scotland.

Murray dismissed reports that the Scotland Office would be allocated such funds for anti-poverty measures.

The MP said the Scotland Office has four priorities which he described as growth, green issues, Brand Scotland and poverty.

He was asked whether he would use some of the £150 million reportedly allocated to his office to help pensioners affected by the cut to the winter fuel payment, which the UK Government is withdrawing from millions of pensioner households across the country who are not in receipt of benefits.

Murray dismissed the figure which has been reported in the media, saying it was “made up” and did not come from him.

Speaking on BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show, he said: “I don’t have a £150m pound war chest.”

He added: “My key priority is to get the process of the Scotland Office being a spending department, to get all those structural funds that was in our manifesto together in terms of making sure that the Scotland Office can spend some money that’s already being spent in Scotland on that growth, green brand and poverty.

“But I don’t have a £150 million war chest.”

Murray also said that Labour has inherited the “worst economic and public service finances situation since the Second World War”.

He said the UK Government has to “fix those foundations” to improve the situation.

The Scottish Secretary said: “What the Chancellor has been clear (on), and the Prime Minister has been clear on, is two things: there will be no return to austerity in terms of our public services, and those with the broadest shoulders will carry the can in terms of trying to help us out of this situation.

“But if we can fix all those things now, in terms of the economic situation, the tax burden on working people and growing the economy, which is the important thing for us to do, there is no other way out of this mess that this country is in.

“If we’re able to do those things, then there’ll be a much brighter future for everyone in this country, and we’ll have a much better story to tell come that change we want to deliver.”

He added: “Let’s see what the chancellor lays out on October 30, but it’s very, very, very clear that we will not increase income tax, we’ll not increase national insurance, we’ll not increase VAT and we’ll not increase corporation tax on businesses to try and help that economic growth, but there has to be something done with the public finances we’ve inherited.”

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “This was a desperate attempt to rewrite history by Ian Murray to explain away the calamitous start made by Keir Starmer’s Labour Government.

“The public can see that Labour are lying about the state of the economy they inherited to justify their shameful decision to abolish universal winter fuel payments.”

SNP Treasury spokesperson Dave Doogan MP asked why Murray did not correct the newspaper which reported the £150 million figure before the country went to the polls.

He said: “Of course the Labour Government shouldn’t be riding roughshod over devolution, but the fact remains, they knowingly allowed people in Scotland to be told that Labour would invest £150 million which they are now washing their hands of.

“It’s no wonder the Labour Party is collapsing in the polls, when you can’t believe a word they say.

“It’s clear the SNP is the only party who can be trusted to deliver a better future.”

A spokesperson for Ian Murray said: “The Scotland Office hasn’t been allocated any money to spend directly in Scotland, it is not yet a spending department. That requires a fiscal event like a budget which would require legislative change.

“The previously reported £150m figure was based on a calculation of levelling up fund spending in Scotland.

“Since the election we have discovered a £22 billion black hole in public spending.

“Labour’s manifesto committed to restoring decision making over these funds to representatives of the devolved nations and Ian wants the Scotland Office to work directly with the Scottish Government and local councils in Scotland to drive economic growth in our communities.”