RED ED’S BENEFITS GIVEAWAY
Desperate Miliband vows: If I’m PM, I’ll let Holyrood increase welfare handouts
SCOTLAND will get a more generous benefits system than the rest of the UK if Ed Miliband becomes Prime Minister.
The Labour leader will allow MSPs to set higher dole and disability payments in a desperate attempt to reverse the exodus of his voters to the SNP.
He will unveil the proposals in his manifesto, published tomorrow, as he attempts to fight back in Scotland, a key General Election battleground that could decide if he gets the keys to Downing Street.
But the move will lead to fears that it could put the future of the Union at risk, by setting Scotland apart from the rest of the UK.
Under Mr Miliband’s plan, the Scottish parliament will be able to ‘top up’ payments reserved to Westminster, including jobseeker’s allowance, disability living allowance and even the state pension.
Labour strategists are calling it The Vow
Plus – and hope it will appeal to Scots who don’t think the Smith Commission went far enough.
It is a clear attempt to win back the traditional Left-wing voters who have deserted Labour in favour of the SNP.
But it will be controversial in the rest of the UK and could stoke resentment about Scots getting a better deal.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy said: ‘We will go much further than what is on offer by allowing Scotland’s cities and communities more influence and control over the welfare state. The problems of a jobs crisis in Aberdeen caused by an oil crisis in the North Sea are different from the generational poverty in Glasgow or Lanarkshire.
‘The problems are different and we won’t treat them as the same, so we will go further.’
Under the proposals in tomorrow’s manifesto, Labour will give MSPs the power to make top-up payments to all benefits claimants, raising the possibility of a higher state pension and more generous jobseeker’s allowance and dis- ability living allowance payments in Scotland.
Crucially, however, the money would need to be found within the Scottish Budget – or raised through increased taxation. That raises the prospect that taxpayers could see their bills soar in order to fund benefits giveaways.
Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said: ‘ The Smith Commission has recommended and will deliver a significant package of powers.
‘This is an example of Labour desperately foraging around for policies it thinks people in Scotland want to hear.
‘They’re forgetting people voted No and don’t need Labour patronising them on the constitution.’
A new poll published by the Scottish Conservatives today reveals that Scots actually favour cuts to the amount spent on benefits.
According to the YouGov findings, 65 per cent of Scots back Tory welfare reforms, which cap the maximum amount any household can receive in benefits at £26,000. And 54 per cent of respondents agree with Tory plans to bring the cap down to £23,000 after the election, while only 26 per cent oppose it.
Labour’s manifesto is also expected to include a cast-iron commitment to renewing Trident nuclear weapons.
Last week, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced that the Tory manifesto would have a commitment to building four nuclear missile-armed submarines. He also launched an attack on Mr Miliband, saying he had ‘stabbed his own brother in the back’ and was now ‘willing to stab the UK in the back’ by doing a deal on Trident with the SNP.
Yesterday, Mr Murphy accused the Tories of attempting a ‘personal character assassination’ on Mr Miliband, adding: ‘You will see our manifesto – it will be beyond doubt that Labour remains a multilateralist party.
‘Over time, if we can negotiate with others to create a
‘We will go much further’ ‘Foraging around for policies’
nuclear-free world, then that would be a great prize – but while other nations continue to have a deterrent, then so should we.’
Meanwhile, a senior Tory source said David Cameron’s manifesto on Tuesday would pledge to deliver the Smith Commission proposals in full and introduce English Votes for English Laws.
It will promise to include legislation on the transfer of powers from Westminster to Holyrood in the first Queen’s Speech of a new Parliament.