David Knight: SNP’s lackadaisical approach to winter payments is why no one should trust them

I was going to warn SNP delegates to wrap up warm as they gathered for their conference this weekend.

Not only because autumn is around the corner, but also to protect them against a tense icy atmosphere after their disastrous drubbing at the general election.

But perhaps they should care more about thousands of pensioners in the north and north-east who are shivering for real after winter domestic energy benefits were axed so brutally.

At least being in Edinburgh for the conference means the party leadership doesn’t have to travel up and down the A9/A96 every day – and be reminded of that fiasco, too.

Direct action on these two issues would change the lives of so many people in Highland and Grampian communities.

The party is stalled at a crucial crossroads over its future direction.

Endless incompetent dithering over upgrading the two major routes linking the north and north-east with the rest of the country is indicative of a lackadaisical approach to domestic issues.

It wasn’t great timing just before the conference when the Scottish Government fell meekly into line with Labour in London over restricting winter fuel handouts to older people on pension credit.

They should know this is even tougher on people in our backyard, which is often the coldest in the country.

Winter payment fiasco is based on false perception pensioners are millionaires

A sense of injustice will shadow them through a winter of discontent in Scotland – fanned by rising electricity prices.

Forgive the pun, but there is a whole grey area on winter payments for old people to consider.

A false perception that most pensioners are millionaires.

In fact, many above the breadline are only on modest pensions and filled with dread about unpredictable energy bills.

Not in dire straits requiring pension credit, but still scrimping and saving to make ends meet.

It was easier, lazier and greedier for Reeves and Co to make the cut at the pension credit level because these recipients were already on Government works and pensions records so could be counted automatically.

As we know from other universal benefits, it’s more difficult and costly for bean counters to weed out the poor from the well-off, so vast numbers of inbetweeners were simply thrown to the dogs by the Treasury.

Reeves was taking the most convenient option for her and blow the consequences; her pious pontification was a smokescreen.

I had intended in this column to urge the SNP to pursue its own financial course to offer some form of winter support for pensioners in Scotland, but was overtaken by events.

I harboured a forlorn hope that they might ride to the rescue and make a stand for Scotland’s old people.

A possible comeback against Labour; a tactical defence as Anas Sarwar lays siege for the 2026 Holyrood election.

SNP has no problem throwing money down the drain

After all, the SNP has no problem throwing money down the drain on the ferry farce, escalating A9/96 costs, the botched bottle recycling scheme and its penchant for bankrolling doomed court battles at vast expense – to name a few.

At least this would have been money well spent.

Now the SNP is blaming Labour in London while Reeves blames the Tories for the winter energy decision.

It’s a form of political money-laundering to keep the buck moving around so it never stops where it should.

When Starmer was on the brink of his landslide victory he was offering a land of milk and honey.

But I warned that it might only be a matter of time before we were pleading to be rescued from Labour.

Is it possible that another SNP defeat in 2026 might not be a foregone conclusion if Starmer inadvertently shoots Sarwar in the foot by alienating Scottish voters?

Reducing Labour’s spark in Scotland to that of a damp Catherine wheel.

The SNP could suddenly look more attractive again; yes, I know it’s more like voting for the least-dead corpse in the political mortuary, but stranger things happen.

Rather than leave things to chance, would it not be better if the SNP did something they haven’t done in years: to prioritise domestic policies which matter to ordinary people over ideological wild-goose chases.

Starting with the A9/96 improvements.

Recently the P&J reported that a review which began three years ago over the badly- delayed roads projects was itself seriously overdue.

This embarrassing fiasco for the Scottish Government just keeps getting worse after years of broken promises.

I beg to move a point of order: that the time has arrived to launch a separate new review – into why the review has been delayed.

I wouldn’t put it past them.

A devilish plot to keep it in the slow lane until 2026 – and then announce a new potential vote-winning pledge to Highland and north-east voters in their election manifesto.

But would anyone trust them enough to cross the road for that?

David Knight is the long-serving former deputy editor of The Press and Journal