SNP attacks ‘disastrous’ year of Starmer ‘U-turns, scandals and failure’

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of presiding over a “litany of broken promises, U-turns, scandals, and failures” since becoming Prime Minister.

Marking the first anniversary of Labour’s landslide general election victory, the SNP said the UK Government’s record has been “disastrous”.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn pointed to Labour U-turns on the winter fuel payment and welfare cuts while criticising the Prime Minister’s record on the economy.

Labour won an overwhelming majority on July 4, 2024 but polling shows Starmer’s ratings have since fallen dramatically, while a number of surveys now put Reform UK ahead of the party in Scotland.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn attacked Labour’s record on its first anniversary in Government (James Manning/PA). PA Media

Flynn said: “Keir Starmer’s first year in office speaks for itself – a litany of broken promises, U-turns, scandals, and failures on the economy that have removed optimism from a public who were so desperate for change.

“Voters were promised a new direction but instead they got more of the same Westminster cuts and failure.

“Families and small businesses hammered by tax hikes, and soaring bills – with millions of people feeling worse off whilst being lectured that things are getting better.

“The UK economy has been downgraded, public finances have deteriorated, unemployment is up, poverty is at record levels and the cost of food, energy and household bills have risen by hundreds of pounds on Keir Starmer’s watch.

“When people look back on the Labour Party’s year in office they will remember the cuts to disabled people and pensioners’ winter fuel payments, the betrayal of Waspi women and children in poverty, rising energy bills and food prices, and a Prime Minister who took thousands of pounds of designer clothes and freebies while imposing austerity cuts on the rest of us.”

Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton said Keir Starmer is ‘hopelessly out of his depth’ (Andrew Milligan/PA). PA Media

The Scottish Conservatives said the Prime Minister’s first year has been “catastrophic” as the party accused the Labour leader of “betraying” its voters.

Deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said Scotland “can’t afford another four years of a Prime Minister who is hopelessly out of his depth”.

She said: “Keir Starmer’s first year in office has been a catastrophic series of broken promises and U-turns that people up and down the country are paying for.

“Labour’s jobs tax and family farm tax have been utterly devastating for the careers, pay packets and bills of ordinary people.

“Their hostility to North Sea oil and gas is not just crushing livelihoods and communities across the North East, it’s leading to higher fuel bills for everyone by making us more reliant on foreign imports.

“Ending universal winter fuel payments for pensioners was another broken election pledge and a betrayal of some of our most vulnerable people, one which the SNP shamefully copied in Scotland.

“Starmer has betrayed all those who voted for him by breaking his vow not to raise taxes – and he’ll have to hike them again in the autumn after his humiliating surrender to Labour MPs on welfare reform.”

Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray said Labour has already made life better for millions of Scots (Andrew Milligan/PA). PA Media

But Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said millions of Scots are now better of since Labour came to power.

He pointed to rises to the minimum wage worth up to £1,400 a year to low-paid Scots, the introduction of the right to sick and parental leave from day one of a job, and the extension of fuel duty cuts for drivers.

Murray said the UK Government had given Holyrood a record settlement of £50bn, with at least £14bn in extra funding by 2029 when compared to Tory spending plans.

He said: “This time last year the Scottish people decided to stop sending a message to Westminster and sent a government instead – and every day since then Scottish Labour MPs have been at the heart of a Labour Government delivering a better deal for Scotland.

“After the Tories crashed the economy Labour got the public finances back on a secure footing and the result of that stability was four interest rate cuts in a row meaning cheaper mortgages for many Scots.

“The minimum wage got a record boost and stronger rights means Scots have more security at work.

“The UK Labour Government comprehensively ended austerity with billions of pounds more for public services in Scotland.

“But as waiting lists fall in England where Labour have taken control of the health service, the NHS in Scotland remains under SNP mismanagement, with one in six Scots on an NHS waiting list, people paying to go private because they can’t wait anymore and cancer waiting times at their worst ever level.

“Scots can’t risk a third decade of SNP mismanagement of our public services. That’s why next May Scots should boot John Swinney out of office and chart a new direction, with Anas Sarwar as First Minister and a Scottish Labour government.”