DEAR EDITOR
When Labour swept to power in 2024, they promised a “year of change” built on fairness, economic security, and real support for working people. Nine months on, millions of voters who believed in that vision are left wondering: where did that promise go?
Take the Winter Fuel Allowance. Labour pledged to protect pensioners, but instead, they’ve means-tested this vital support, stripping £300 a year from 10 million elderly households. For pensioners in Scotland, where fuel poverty is already a crisis, this is more than a broken promise, it’s a direct hit on dignity and security in retirement.
Then there’s the closure of Grangemouth Refinery, Scotland’s largest industrial site. While Labour’s manifesto talked up industrial renewal, the reality has been the loss of thousands of skilled jobs and a blow to local communities. Promised “Just Transition” funding has stalled, and the government’s silence is deafening.
Small businesses, too, are feeling the squeeze. Labour’s hike in employer National Insurance contributions, hits small shops and local employers hardest. Big chains can pass on costs, but for independent bakers and butchers, this could be the final straw. This isn’t “backing British or Scottish business”, it’s making survival harder for the backbone of our communities.
Labour has refused to tax extreme wealth or impose windfall taxes on energy giants. Meanwhile, households face rising bills, not the £300 cut Labour promised. Their much-touted energy plan has faltered, and green levies are pushing costs even higher, especially painful in Scotland’s long, cold winters.
Welfare cuts are another blow. The government’s own figures show that recent changes will push 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children into poverty. Universal Credit health payments are frozen, and support for the sick and disabled is being slashed. This is austerity by another name, and it’s hitting the most vulnerable hardest.
Perhaps most telling is Labour’s decision to pour billions into defence, aiming for the highest military spending since the Cold War, while cutting £15 billion from public services. For Scotland, where Labour refuses to devolve full fiscal powers or reverse Tory-era cuts, the sense of betrayal is acute. Many now feel Labour is more interested in appeasing the centre than standing up for the people who put them in office.
This isn’t the change we were promised. It’s a retreat into old, failed policies that deepen inequality and erode trust. The working class deserves more than slogans and spin. It’s time for Labour to remember who they serve – and for all of us to hold them to account.
We urge voters and the media to hold this government to account. The working class deserves more than empty slogans and reheated Thatcherism.
Yours sincerely,
Dhruva Kumar
Former Glasgow South MP Candidate
Depute Convenor, Media Officer, Alba Party Glasgow
