Keir Starmer urges SNP to spend every penny of NHS windfall on Scottish health service

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Keir Starmer has demanded the SNP Government spend every penny of the extra NHS cash given to Holyrood on the country’s ailing health service. The Prime Minister said his tax-raising Budget had ended austerity and urged John Swinney to use a boost of over £1bn to cut waiting lists.

He said: “My message is very clear to the SNP. You’ve got the power. You’ve got the money. No more hiding places. No more excuses. This money has to get to the front line.”

Labour’s first PM in fourteen years spoke exclusively to the Record in Glasgow months after his historic general election win. His period in office has been dominated by claims the Tories left behind a £22bn black hole and a row over slashing the Winter Fuel Payment.

But the biggest moment was when Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £40bn of tax rises in the Budget last week, triggering £3.4bn more for Holyrood next year. Labour sources say a £20bn-plus boost for the NHS across the UK translates as over a billion extra for health in Scotland.

Starmer said: “There is no return to austerity under this Budget. For Scotland, I think the important thing now is to say, look, the Scottish Government has the powers, it’s now got the money because this is a very good Budget for Scotland. And therefore there are no more excuses for the SNP.”

He also agreed with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar that all the cash generated for the NHS should be spent on the health service by SNP Ministers and not diverted. He said: “Absolutely. And the proof of that is in the one in six people on waiting lists. Anas is absolutely right when he says that that needs to be focused on, and go to, the health service here.”

He continued his attack on the SNP Government, which has been accused of mismanaging taxpayers' cash: “They have wasted a lot of money. They have not used the money they’ve got effectively and they have used two devices.

“One is a long list of excuses [on] why it is somebody’s else's fault that they’ve not delivered for Scotland. Their record of delivery is very poor. And secondly, they’ve hidden behind the constitutional issue for too long.”

However, Starmer’s Government has faced criticism over the tax rise Budget, as well as the WFP cuts and the row over accepting free clothes from donors. A recent opinion poll for the Holyrood election saw Labour in freefall, with Starmer getting the blame.

He said of the poll: “I think this has to be seen in its context. We have deliberately taken the decision to take the tough, unpopular choices now. We discovered a £22bn black hole in the economy. I wasn’t prepared to continue the fiction and pretend it’s not there. So we ran towards the challenge. That involved taking difficult decisions about how we fix the foundations of the economy.

“I promised I would deliver for Scotland in this Budget. I have made good on that promise for Scotland, but has it involved unpopular decisions? Yes, of course it has.”

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Asked if a Labour win at the Holyrood election in 2026 is his top priority as party leader, he said: “Yes, it’s a real priority for me. It’s a priority for Scottish Labour. It’s a priority for Labour across the United Kingdom and it’s a priority for me.

“I want this Labour Government in Westminster to deliver for Scotland. I am convinced that we will be able to deliver most effectively if we have a Labour Government in Scotland working together in lock-step, rather than the conflict we have had certainly up until now with the Westminster Government.”

Another difficult issue for him is his refusal, so far, to scrap the two child benefit cap. Sources believe the cap could be phased out after a taskforce on child poverty finishes its work. Starmer left the door open to the cap being axed, saying: “What the taskforce will do is pull together all the strands of this. I have never been convinced that welfare is the only lever when it comes to child poverty.

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“Everybody knows that housing, job security, health, education, all of those are factors in child poverty, so we have to tackle them all together. We will be setting out further details of that in the spring, when the child poverty group reports. The last Labour Government reduced child poverty significantly and I want this Labour Government to do the same.”

Starmer also repeated his pre-election pledge to cut energy bills in the long term, saying: “I do want to see those energy bills come down. One of the great advantages of clean power 2030 is, one, cheaper bills because renewables are cheaper.

"Two, energy independence, so that Putin can’t put his boot on our throat. Three, the very many high quality secure jobs, including jobs here in Scotland.” He said: “This will lead to lower bills.”

He ended by naming his biggest regret and proudest achievement in Government so far: “The proudest moment is undoubtedly the Budget because it is a Labour budget with Labour priorities. And that’s what I came into Government to achieve. My regret is it took fifteen years to get there.”

SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “We are assessing the full implications of the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget statement and I will be announcing further details as part of the Scottish Budget on 4 December.

“We will be seeking to pass on all health resource consequentials to health, as has been our long-standing commitment and practice.”

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