Scottish Labour ‘fantastically cohesive’ despite welfare row, Anas Sarwar insists

Anas Sarwar has insisted his MSP group is “fantastically cohesive” despite a split developing over the UK Government’s recent welfare decisions.

The government outlined major changes to the benefits system which are designed to save £5bn a year by 2030. The overhaul includes making it harder for some people to claim disability benefits.

MSPs Carol Mochan and Monica Lennon, as well as MP Brian Leishman, have spoken out against the reforms.

But asked about the possibility of a rebellion, Sarwar insisted his group remained cohesive while on a visit to the City of Glasgow College on Friday.

He said: “I’ve got a fantastically cohesive group, a fantastically motivated group, a motivated group that helped elected 37 MPs, a very motivated group that’s desperate to win an election next year.”

He added that it was “absolute appropriate” that some of his colleagues were able to “ask questions of individual ministers and secretaries of state”, as the effort to put public spending back on a sustainable footing was “challenging”.

And he played down suggestions that his party was pursuing austerity, insisting that “public spending is going up, the very opposite of austerity”.

Mochan, who sits on Scottish Labour’s frontbench as a health spokesperson, said the planned welfare changes were a “mistake and should not go ahead”.

In a post in X, she said: “Austerity has never been a sustainable path to growth. We cannot balance the books on the backs of people who require benefits just to have a passable standard of living.”

And Lennon, who challenged Sarwar for leadership four years ago, said: “The UK Government is going in the wrong direction on welfare. For the sake of my constituents, I urge ministers to stop the cuts to disabled people.”

Former MSP Neil Findlay also resigned his membership over the matter.

Sarwar said Mochan was “a fantastic member of the Scottish Parliament, a fantastic advocate for the local community, and will be a fantastic minister in a Scottish Labour government”.

He also did not rule out the possibility of a future Scottish Labour government making eligibility changes to the adult disability payment (ADP) – Scotland’s equivalent to Pip.

Asked about that prospect, he said: “This is a change to a benefit that exists in England, and if there are positive or negative lessons to learn from that, of course we’ll reflect on that, and how we approach ADP.”

The knock-on impact of the UK Government’s changes to the Scottish block grant will be set out in chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spending review next week.

But as the change won’t come into effect until November 2026, it is not expected to impact that Scottish Government’s budget this year or next.

The Scottish Labour leader was also asked about yesterday’s news that Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared by police following their Operation Branchform investigation into the SNP’s finances.

He said that “questions still remain” about the probe. “I’m not going to step on any legal proceedings, but what's being investigated here is whether individuals’ hard-earned income was inappropriately used or not. Questions remain around that and people want a conclusion to that.”