Meeting of the Parliament 08 October 2024
If Mr O’Kane will forgive me, I had better begin to draw my remarks to a conclusion.
We make those investments because they are the right thing to do and because they support thousands of people across Scotland every day. However, we also make them because they make good fiscal sense. They reduce later, greater strain on our public services. They support people to take part in our communities and to contribute to society. They grow our economy. In the long run, they make us all more prosperous, as they make our public services more sustainable. I urge the UK Government to deliver an autumn budget that understands that—a budget that is focused on investment and opportunity rather than on austerity, a budget that provides greater funding for public services and infrastructure, a budget that supports our nation’s most vulnerable. I repeat those calls today.
As we begin this afternoon’s debate, I hope that members across the chamber will work constructively with us to ensure that the powers, levers and funding that are available to us continue to make the greatest difference to the most vulnerable in Scotland. The steps that the UK Government has taken to restrict eligibility for winter fuel payments are not in the spirit of devolution. It cannot be appropriate in anybody’s eyes to devolve power to the Scottish Parliament and, at the last minute, to withdraw the funding that goes alongside the devolution of that policy. Whatever our politics, surely no member of this Parliament can believe that that is an appropriate way for the devolution of powers to proceed.
I call on all members of Parliament to unite in a clear statement to the United Kingdom Government that the decision to end universal eligibility for winter fuel payments should be reversed and that the resources should be available to this Parliament to ensure that that vital support is available to all those in Scotland who are eligible. I appeal to Parliament to work together to make the best investment in our nation and its future. Let us ensure the best possible outcome for the people who we represent, this winter and for the years to come.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees in this Challenge Poverty Week that the UK Government must reverse the introduction of means testing for the Winter Fuel Payment.