NICOLA Sturgeon will ask voters to help her put at and end to Tory cuts when she launches her party’s manifesto tomorrow.
Though keeping much of what will be in the final document close to their chest, the SNP revealed a handful of key election pledges over the weekend.
Like Labour who have seen a considerable bounce in the polls, the SNP will be exploiting the Tory wobble over proposed changes to pensions, social care and the winter fuel allowance. Sturgeon branded the Tory policies, which will heavily impact the elderly, as a “disgrace”.
Theresa May’s party have committed to ending the triple lock on pensions after 2020, and limiting winter fuel payments to the poorest elderly people in England and Wales. Though the Scottish Tories have said the annual £300 payment will remain a universal benefit north of the Border.
The Prime Minister has also announced changes to social care south of the border, with wealthier patients being asked to pay more.
The changes would see pensioners pay for residential care or help in their own home from their homes, with their last £100,000 protected.
Labour have labelled it the dementia tax as those who need long-term care could run up gigantic bills.
Out campaigning in Edinburgh on Saturday, Sturgeon said the Tories were blaming Brexit for cuts, adding: “The Tories cannot be trusted to care for our older people. Removing the triple lock, slashing the winter fuel allowance, and pushing more care costs on to our elderly when they have paid taxes all their lives is a disgrace.
“Pensioners deserve dignity not austerity and using Brexit to secure the right to attack pensioner benefits is an absolute disgrace.”
The SNP manifesto will commit to “demanding the retention of the triple lock on the state pension”, which guarantees an increase in the state pension every year by inflation, average earnings or a minimum of 2.5 per cent.
The SNP will also oppose moves to increase the state pension age beyond 66 and support so-called “WASPI women” who have lost out because of the planned equalisation of the state pension age.
The party is also committed to maintaining universal winter fuel payments and extending the eligibility to families with “severely disabled children.”
Speaking on the Andrew Marr programme yesterday, Damian Green, the Tory work and pensions secretary struggled to defend the proposals.
He insisted that the part were not going to back down: “We have set out the policy, which we are not going to look at again.”
An hour later, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he understood “people’s reservations” and hinted the plan could still be tweaked.
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