Alba Ask: Where’s Anas?
Salmond’s pro independence party say the Scottish Labour leader has been ‘in hiding’ after his MPs voted against scrapping the two child benefit cap.
ALBA PARTY have called on Anas Sarwar to condemn his own Scottish Labour MPs for voting against scrapping the two child benefit cap.
Despite Scottish Labour campaigning against the UK Government benefit cap whilst in opposition, Scottish Labour MPs voted with the Government against scrapping the cap which it is estimated traps over 80,000 children in Scotland in poverty.
Mr Sarwar had previously called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the policy but Labour failed to do so in their first Kings Speech after returning to Government.
Alba Party’s Holyrood leader Ash Regan has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling on the Scottish government to fund the full mitigation of the two child cap in a move intended to exert political pressure on the UK Government to scrap the policy when it sets its first budget at the end of this year.
Alba say it would cost £100 Million to mitigate the policy - or 0.2% of the Scottish budget - in Scotland and point to the fact that the Scottish Government had a budget underspend of £347 Million last year that could fund the policy.
Their call comes after seven Labour MPs backed were suspended for backing an amendment to the Kings speech calling for the policy to be scrapped– none from Scotland. The vote was defeated this week by 101 votes to 361 in favour of keeping the policy, which saw Labour MPs join the Tories in the “no” lobby.
Commenting Alba Party General Secretary Chris McEleny said:
“Since his Scottish Labour MPs disregarded the views of their ‘Scottish Labour’ party leader and instead were whipped by London Labour into keeping children in poverty, Anas Sarwar has been nowhere to be seen.
“People that voted Labour “for change” in good faith deserve an explanation from him as to why the Labour Party are willing to protect the very worst of Tory austerity policies. That is why today Alba Party are asking ‘Where’s Anas’?
“Just last week he was issuing statements on the front page of newspapers saying Labour would scrap the two child benefit cap. Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour should be under no doubt that the two child cap is no longer just a Tory policy, it is now Scottish Labours two child benefit cap.”
