A LABOUR peer has pointed out the “stark contrast” between key Scottish and English policies.
Baron Prem Sikka is a Labour peer and was first appointed to the House of Lords in September 2020.
Writing on Twitter/X on Friday, he said: “Notice the stark differences. Free prescriptions in Scotland, England charges.
“No university tuition fees for local students, England charges.
“Scottish Child Payment tackles child poverty, England has two-child benefit cap.
“Water is publicly-owned in Scotland, not in England.”
His comments come after experts said it was “crucial” for the UK Government to learn from the “potentially transformative” Scottish Child Payment.
We previously told how academics in social policy and economics insisted the weekly benefit handed out to low-income families north of the Border means children are facing a “more hopeful future” than their counterparts living elsewhere in the UK.
Sikka’s criticism of the two-child cap is also noteworthy as Keir Starmer has previously come under pressure for doubling down on his decision not to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
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He has previously said that a Labour government would impose a two-child cap on benefits “more fairly’ than a Tory one.
Reacting to Sikka’s comments, SNP MP Peter Grant said on Twitter/X: “This from a Labour member in the House of Lords.”
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