Starmer says SNP and Tories could do more to help families

Sir Keir Starmer has accused the UK and Scottish governments of offering families “a mere pittance” as people struggle with the cost of living crisis.

The UK Labour leader insisted SNP ministers had “no plan that goes beyond another referendum, more uncertainty and more division”.

It came as he addressed the CBI Scotland annual lunch in Edinburgh, in which he pledged to build a “new partnership” with businesses.

Sir Keir said millions of families “are finding life more difficult than ever”.

He said: “There’s so much that both the UK government and the Scottish Government could be doing. But instead, they’re offering a mere pittance, or in some cases nothing at all.”

The Labour leader said too many people “are having to make the choice between heating and eating”, insisting: “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

Sir Keir pointed to measures outlined by Scottish Labour, such as fuel cost payments and a £100 rebate on water rates, as well as plans to halve rail fares for three months

He said: “Labour in government in Edinburgh and London would mean more than £1,000 off household bills for people struggling to make ends meet.”

Elsewhere, he pointed to low growth and productivity, and called for increased business investment and improved infrastructure.

Sir Keir said: “Too often the Scottish Government claims to be stronger for Scotland, but then talks about what it can’t do, rather than what it can do.”

The Labour leader said he was determined to build “a new partnership” with business. He said certainty and stability required a national business plan and a “robust and long-term industrial strategy worthy of the name”.

Sir Keir said the effects of Brexit and Covid “will be with us for many years”, adding: “Getting Brexit done was never going to be enough. Making Brexit work was always going to be far harder.”

Sir Keir said neither the Scottish nor UK government had a plan. He said: “In Westminster, instability, uncertainty and chaos, the enemy of good business, are the order of the day, week in, week out, month in, month out.

“And in Scotland, there’s no plan that goes beyond another referendum, more uncertainty and more division, just at the time when we need to bring people together, particularly post-covid.”

He said fewer than half of employers believe young people had the digital, programming and analytic skills that businesses need.

Sir Keir added: “The First Minister says that raising educational attainment is her defining mission. Well, when you compare the rhetoric with the results, perhaps we should be grateful that she’s never said that about growing the Scottish economy. Fifteen years in power and at least 60 economic strategies for Scotland is not the hallmark of a focused government.”

He said the Scottish Government “has had the time to turn world-leading potential in wind energy into jobs”, adding: “Now the [energy] transition is here, it’s clear that not enough has been done as quickly as it should have been.”