Burnham’s Government ‘failing’ to deliver change, SNP Westminster leader claims

Andy Burnham’s Government is “failing to deliver the change he promised” on living standards, the SNP has said. SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan MP says the UK has reached “crisis point”, citing the Resolution Foundation’s recent claim that in the next two years, typical working-aged households in the country will see their disposable income fall by £1,050, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies said this decade will be the worst for household income growth.

Mr Doogan said: “This week made it crystal clear that Brexit Britain is broken beyond repair. “The UK is at crisis point and Andy Burnham is failing to deliver the change he promised. “The Labour government’s latest do-nothing budget was every bit as feeble as one of Keir Starmer’s – and as a result the UK is facing a grim future of soaring bills, rapidly declining living standards and a return to brutal Westminster austerity cuts. “We were told Andy Burnham was going to cut the cost of living – but every major household bill has increased on his watch and typical families will now see their disposable incomes fall by more than £1000 over the next two years.

“We were promised Burnham’s Government would deliver radical change to reverse 40 years of Westminster failure – but instead we got 4p off gherkins in a UK Budget that didn’t even attempt to address the scale of the challenge that Broken Britain is facing.” He added: “And, for Scotland, Burnham’s broken promises are even more profound. “After the Labour Party’s betrayal on Grangemouth, Andy Burnham is doubling down with yet another big betrayal on Scotland’s energy by slashing funding for Scottish carbon capture and hiking up gas bills for around 800,000 Scots to subsidise England.

“Once again, energy-rich Scotland is literally paying the price for Westminster failure, as energy bills soar while our our huge oil and gas revenues are being syphoned off by the Treasury to fund projects in England. “This has to be an urgent wake-up call. “Scotland must have a choice over our future with independence – because this week has shown Britain is permanently broken and families literally can’t afford to continue down the path of Westminster decline.”

The UK Government pointed to an interview with Chancellor John Healey on Channel 4 on Thursday in which he discussed living standards. In the interview Mr Healey said: “People are really struggling, and look, up until the election in 2024, that was the first parliament ever where living standards actually fell. “And they’re under pressure again now. And the way that we deal with that, I’m afraid from this point on, is to make sure that we can get more jobs created.

“We can get businesses making more of a profit and being able to pay higher wages. “We can get jobs created so that our youngsters at the moment that are on benefits and with little prospect of ever being able to work, we can get them into work, a chance for them to make their way and a chance for them to make a contribution to the wider lift the country needs.”