Swinney accused of 'misrepresenting' Andy Burnham after £4bn triple lock comments

Scottish Labour said he must now provide “honesty and clarity” if he is to build the trust needed to bring about his public service reforms.

The First Minister claimed that the Prime Minister’s decision to scrap the triple lock could cost Scottish pensioners £2,000 by 2050.

During first minister’s questions on Thursday afternoon, Mr Swinney then repeated the claim that it will cost Scottish pensioners £4 billion a year, according to the Scottish government’s projections.

Mr Swinney said: “I have received the first official estimate of the cost to Scotland’s pensioners of the Prime Minister’s attack on the triple lock.

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“It will take up to £4bn from Scotland’s pensioners - and the Prime Minister plans to use it to pay for social care in England.

“This would mean in real terms every pensioner in Scotland being almost £2,000 worse off in 2050.

“This is unacceptable and the Prime Minister must abandon these plans.”

The triple lock on pensions means state pension rates increase at the beginning of every new tax year according to whatever of the three are highest: inflation, average wage growth, or 2.5 per cent.

For the 2026/27 tax year, the new and basic state pension increased in line with average wage growth at 4.8 per cent, bringing the full state pension to £241.30 a week.

The policy will cost the UK Government £15.5bn in 2029/30, which is triple the original estimate of £5.2bn, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Mr Burnham is hoping the move will help pay for a national care service, which is estimated to cost around £18bn.

The new Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra said: “The First Minister and the SNP have misrepresented the position of the UK Government on social care reform and now find themselves on the same side as Reform and the Tories.

“John Swinney knows that pensions will continue to increase every year, and he knows that the Prime Minister’s reforms will result in very significantly increased funding for Scotland.

“That money can be spent however the Scottish Government likes - whether it is on fixing Scotland’s own social care crisis, on education, or even creating new financial benefits for pensions.

“All of these reforms are huge issues for the country.

“We have to change and we need considered honesty in this debate, and that is how we should proceed. John Swinney cannot keep avoiding answering straight questions on these issues.”

While questioning the First Minister, Mr Marra also highlighted comments from BMA Scotland calling on the government to withdraw its plans to reduce the number of health boards to as little as two.

Dr Nora Murray-Cavanagh, the new chairwoman of the medical union, said the proposals are costly and time-consuming, with no clear evidence that it will benefit patients.

Mr Marra said: “I am really concerned about the start the government has made.

“The approach appears to be no real process and the rushed plans raise far more questions than answers.”

In response Mr Swinney said there were “different opinions” about the proposals to merge Scotland’s 14 NHS boards, and said he had spoken to clinicians at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow who disagreed with the BMA’s position.

Meanwhile the Scottish Conservatives also quizzed the First Minister on his comments on the end of the triple lock pension, and used it to highlight their proposals to cut Scotland’s “out-of-control” benefits bill.

Party leader Russell Findlay said: “John Swinney’s out-of-control benefits bill must be cut.

“If it’s not, then the SNP will yet again punish Scottish taxpayers.

“Reducing benefits should be the starting point for Swinney if he’s serious about the looming £5bn black hole in Scotland’s finances.

“Andy Burnham’s plans to water down the triple lock is a rare point of agreement with the First Minister, but unlike Swinney we know where savings will be made.

“He has a clear choice between cutting benefits or raising taxes - it’s that simple.”

Mr Findlay also claimed that Social Security Scotland staff are coaching benefits cheats on how to make false dole claims.

He said: “A whistleblower has laid bare numerous examples of rampant abuse within Scotland’s benefits system - stories of advisers being told to support applicants even if their claims are false, or advisers telling claimants how to abuse the system.

“John Swinney says the SNP social security system is one of dignity, fairness and respect when it is actually unsustainable, unaffordable and unfair.”

In response, Mr Swinney dismissed Mr Findlay’s comments saying: “I don’t know the source and I don’t know the substance.”

Meanwhile, a senior union leader called for more research before the changes to the pension triple lock come into effect.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said she welcomed plans to add the average earnings element to a double lock, which had given some assurances to vulnerable older people, but she added: “The wrong lever to pay for a much-needed national social care service is being pulled.

“Why are we taking the predicted £15 billion from pensioners and not the wealthy? The question of who pays is an important one and one that will define a direction of travel.

“The state pension is about £12,500 at the higher level. We pay less state pension than Ireland and are the joint lowest as a proportion of GDP in the G7.

“The demise of final salary pension schemes as generations become older – will mean pensioner poverty will increase. More will need to be done on this.”