Welfare cuts – The British Labour Party in Scotland is in a sorry state – ‘red Tories’ indeed!

By stewartb

Recall that on March 27, 2025 the BBC News website had this headline: ‘Sarwar defends UK government welfare cuts’.

‘Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has defended the UK government’s controversial welfare reforms. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed £5bn of cuts in the Spring Statement in a bid to meet self-imposed debt rules. The cuts have been condemned by charities, Holyrood ministers and some Scottish Labour politicians.

Now by way of contrast, on March 28, the BBC News website has this headline in its Wales section: ‘First minister refuses to back welfare cuts’.

‘Wales’ first minister has refused to back UK government welfare cuts announced by the Labour chancellor earlier this week.

‘Giving evidence to a Senedd committee on Friday, Eluned Morgan said she wanted to “reserve my position” until she knew what the impact would be on Wales.

‘Welsh Labour leader Morgan also confirmed she was still waiting for a response from Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall to her request for a Wales-specific impact assessment and said she was now seeking a meeting with her. Morgan wrote to Kendall requesting an assessment on 11 March. She has previously described the delay as “disappointing”.’

Is Mr Sarwar basing his ‘defence’ of the cuts on a Scotland-specific impact assessment or again indulging in ‘party before Scotland’s people’ politics?

The pro-British Labour Party news and current affairs website LabourList has this headline (March 28): ‘Welfare reform: List of Labour MPs prepared to rebel against benefit changes’.

‘More than 20 Labour MPs have said publicly that they will not back the government when proposed welfare reforms are voted on in Parliament.’

The article lists 25 Labour MPs who have said they will rebel against the government. Only one, Brian Leishman, represents a constituency in Scotland. It names four others who have expressed opposition to the welfare ‘reforms’, none from Scotland.

LabourList is proposing to keep a rolling list of Labour MPs who have said they are prepared to rebel against the government over the changes to health-related benefits.

Outside Westminster, and in contrast to Sarwar the defender of ‘welfare cuts’, LabourList reports Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham stating that ‘the government is making “the wrong choice” by restricting eligibility for disability benefit.’

The British Labour Party in Scotland is in a sorry state – ‘red Tories’ indeed!

3 thoughts on “Welfare cuts – The British Labour Party in Scotland is in a sorry state – ‘red Tories’ indeed!”

  1. UK Gov are spending £1130Billion but are cutting welfare. A disaster. Increasing Defence (attack) funding. They would rather people died than keep them alive.

    Scotland in surplus in fuel and energy and nearer the source pays more. No parity. A tax on the Scottish economy.

    £Billions on Trident and redundant weapons. Scotland paying too much for the military. 180,000 military personnel. 10,000 based in Scotland. Scotland paying repayments on debt not borrowed or spent in Scotland. Brexit costing £Billions. Welfare cuts poverty. Pays for itself. Less need for other services. Eradicating poverty brings more equality. More cohesion and prosperity.

    Illegal wars, tax evasion, financial fraud. Westminster policies are corrupt and criminal. Breaking human rights Law. Another International lawyer breaking International Law.

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  2. Sarwar is “defending the cuts now” but what will he be promising Scotland in his campaign for the 2026 elections ?

    Whatever he says in his campaign it will need to be vetted by Labour HQ or perhaps they, as per their procedure, will suggest (demand) what he can and cannot state in his campaign in order to try and (undeservedly) attempt to win votes.

    “The article lists 25 Labour MPs who have said they will rebel against the government. Only one, Brian Leishman, represents a constituency in Scotland”.

    Leishman has to rebel against his own party.

    Leishman stood shoulder to shoulder with Anas Sarwar and backed up everything Sarwar said Labour would do for Grangemouth in the Labour 2024 GE campaign in Scotland, while Leishman himself stated in a tweet that “the SNP had done NOTHING”.

    The choice then for Leishman in his constituency is to either rebel against his own party, Labour, or alternatively just do a Sarwar and endorse everything that his party, Labour HQ, have done and also clearly have not done, which is the same thing Leishman said the SNP had supposedly (not) done , as in “Nothing”.

    If Leishman does not rebel then he is toast in his constituency and he knows it.

    Also if Leishman is really feeling that his constituents have been betrayed , feels so angry and is also feeling very let down by his own party, Labour, then why is he still a Labour MP ?????

    Could you still represent a party you knew had both lied to and betrayed the people who elected you to represent them in WM ?

    What I do not understand is that formerly when Labour MP’s were so open and vocal against the party and so voted , as in rebelled, against the Government (Labour) then they were suspended.

    On 23 July 2024 it was reported that “Seven Labour MPs have had the whip suspended for six months after voting against the government on an amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap”.

    In February 2025 it was reported that only Four of these seven Labour MP’s had the whip restored the other three remain suspended and apparently “their position would be reviewed in the future”. Whatever that means ?????

    The three former Labour MP’s still suspended are the Socialist former Labour MP ,John McDonnell and also two female former Labour MP’s, Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana, who have both been very vocal against what Israel has done and are still doing to Palestinians.

    A Labour MP criticising Israel is a big NO NO for Starmer and his Labour party.

    Also being a Socialist and so being left wing is also now a big NO NO in Sir Keir Starmer’s latest version of his Labour party as he, Starmer, has “Changed” Labour into a new Tory party, one that he (wrongly) assumes is more palatable than the actual Tory party. It’s not, as Labour are proving to be worse than the actual Tory party.

    I do not know what Sarwar is going to try to ‘pull out of the political bag’ in his campaign for the 2026 Scottish elections, but the phrase ‘take with a pinch of salt’ springs to mind as does the other phrase “Don’t believe everything you hear”, or in Sarwar’s case “Don’t believe anything you hear”.

    Sarwar has now proven that he lies to Scotland, he betrays the people of Scotland and that he is a simply a Labour HQ stooge planted in our Scottish parliament to try to ensure that a majority of people in Scotland do not support or vote for Scottish independence. He has no other role or purpose.

    Vote SNP in 2026 to prevent Sarwar and other UK parties trying to do what they always do in Scotland, collude with each other to oust the SNP from power. (Labour even suspended two Edinburgh Labour Councillors for not backing the Tories in Edinburgh council, that was under Sarwar’s watch as Labour supposed leader (ITO) in Scotland).

    Labour are the new Tory party. Pass it on, that is if you even need to pass it on , as I am certain that most people must have worked that one out for themselves by now, surely to God ?

    Liz S

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