Ordinary Scots are paying the price for Keir Starmer’s “catastrophic” year as Prime Minister, it was claimed today.
On the first anniversary of his election win, the Scottish Conservatives said the Labour leader’s litany of broken promises and U-turns had betrayed voters who placed their trust in him and led to higher bills for everyone.
During his first 12 months in Downing Street, Starmer has:
- Ended universal winter fuel payments to pensioners, before being forced into a partial U-turn by the public outcry – both of which the SNP replicated in Scotland
- Hiked employers’ national insurance contributions, which has led to job losses, as well as pay freezes and price rises for staff and customers, respectively
- Devastated farming communities with inheritance tax rises
- Caused job losses in the North East and higher energy bills by blocking North Sea oil and gas projects and raising taxes on the sector
- Botched plans to reform welfare spending, which will mean more tax rises to fill the resulting black hole
Deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said Scotland and the UK “can’t afford another four years of a Prime Minister who is hopelessly out of his depth”.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “Keir Starmer’s first year in office has been a catastrophic series of broken promises and U-turns that people up and down the country are paying for.
“Labour’s jobs tax and family farm tax have been utterly devastating for the careers, pay packets and bills of ordinary people.
“Their hostility to North Sea oil and gas is not just crushing livelihoods and communities across the North East, it’s leading to higher fuel bills for everyone by making us more reliant on foreign imports.
“Ending universal winter fuel payments for pensioners was another broken election pledge and a betrayal of some of our most vulnerable people, one which the SNP shamefully copied in Scotland.
“Starmer has betrayed all those who voted for him by breaking his vow not to raise taxes – and he’ll have to hike them again in the autumn after his humiliating surrender to Labour MPs on welfare reform.
“Hardworking Scots can’t afford another four years of a Prime Minister who is hopelessly out of his depth – not when we already have the highest taxes in the UK thanks to another failing left-wing government in the SNP.”
Notes to editors
Labour’s jobs tax will cost the Scottish economy £2.114 billion. As of February 2025, there were 2.459 million pay-rolled employees in Scotland. The median monthly pay for these employees was £2,466. Previously the employer would have had to pay a National Insurance contribution of £235.70 a month – or £2,828.40 a year. Under the new National Insurance rates imposed by the Labour Government, this contribution from employers will rise to £3,688.20. This average increase of £859.80 will end up costing Scottish employers £2.114 billion assuming the number of pay-rolled employees and their median salary stays constant. (Labour Market Trends Scotland: March 2025, 20 March 2025, link; Rates and thresholds for employers 2025 to 2026, 19 March 2025, link; National insurance rates and categories, Accessed 2 April 2025, link).
Labour’s Family Farm Tax will cost Scottish farmers an estimated £39 million a year. According to the UK Government, Scottish agriculture contributed to 17% of the UK’s total agricultural output in 2023. Therefore, using this as the assumed proportional contribution from Scottish farmers to the Family Farm Tax, this means they will contribute £39.1 million. The Treasury state the agricultural property relief reforms which will remove 100% relief from inheritance tax for properties valued over £1 million will initially raise £230 million in revenue in its first year of operation, 2026-27. (HM Treasury Policy Costings, 30 October 2024, link; Farming evidence – key statistics, 16 September 2024, link).
Labour and the SNP’s decision to strip pensioners of their Winter Fuel Payment saw around 900,000 Scottish pensioners lose out. According to the Scottish Government’s analysis, as many as 900,000 people in Scotland are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payment due to the UK and Scottish governments deciding not to make the payment universal for the winter of 2024-25. (Scottish Government, 14 August 2024, link).
Labour’s North Sea tax rises on Scotland’s oil and gas industry will cost them £376 million. Labour claim that their changes to the windfall tax on oil and gas companies will raise £470 million in 2025-26, the first full year in which the changes will be in effect. In the latest year for which we have data, 2023-24, 80% of the Energy Profits Levy was comprised of revenue from Scotland, meaning that £376 million of these tax rises will be paid for by companies operating in Scotland. (UK Budget 2024 Policy Costings, 30 October 2024, link; Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland 2023-24, 14 August 2024, link).
Labour decided not to defend the court case against the Rosebank oil field and the Jackdaw gas field. The Labour Government dropped its defence of the court case brought before the Court of Session after the UK Conservative Government gave its approval for developing the Rosebank oil field and the Jackdaw gas field. However, after Labour dropped the UK Government’s defence, in January the court ruled the project unlawful. (BBC News, 30 January 2025, link).
Labour have admitted the U-turn on their welfare reforms will have ‘financial consequences’ – suggesting further tax rises may be needed to plug the gap. Pat McFadden, speaking about Labour’s decision to U-turn on its welfare reforms earlier this week, said: ‘There's definitely a financial consequence to the decision taken yesterday’. (GB News, 2 July 2025, link).