Alex Salmond Calls on Scottish Government to face down Westminster over winter fuel payments
ALEX Salmond is calling on First Minister John Swinney to act to defend 900,000 Scots pensioners by taking the UK Government to court.
The former First Minister wants to see action from the Scottish Government following confirmation from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Spokesperson that UK Government Ministers did not carry out a specific Impact Assessment on the implications of the withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Payments for the vast majority of pensioners ,with a “knock on” effect for Scots pensioners eligibility for the Scottish Government’s Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.
Charity Age UK has calculated that Labour’s move will impact 800,000 older people on very low incomes.
Age UK also estimated that around a million more pensioners that are less than £50 above the so-called poverty line will be “hit hard” by Labour’s decision to remove the payment. Meanwhile, in 2017 Labour itself did an impact assessment which found around 4,000 older people could die as a result of means testing the winter fuel payment.
In a statement former First Minister and Alba Party Leader Alex Salmond said:
“This is a significant political development with profound legal implications.
“This confirmation that the UK Government did not carry out full and proper impact assessments means that it is almost certain that the UK Government have acted unlawfully in cutting the eligibility and scope of the Winter Fuel Payment.
“The confirmation that the UK Government did not carry out the Equality Impact Assessment under the Equality Act 2010 opens up a clear route for the Scottish Government, to defend Scots pensioners, by challenging the UK Government in the Scottish Courts. It is one that they must now take.
“With 900,000 Scots pensioners set to lose up to £300 per year and hundreds of older Scots at risk of premature death this winter it is now vital that John Swinney instructs the Scottish Government to go to the Court of Session to seek a judicial review against the UK Government. Anything less will be a betrayal of Scots pensioners and a total abdication by the Scottish Government of its responsibilities.”
