Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has said he does not have a £150 million “war chest” to tackle poverty in Scotland.
Back in June, the Labour politician gave an interview to the Daily Record which subsequently reported that the Scotland Office would receive this amount of money.
The figure is just £10m less than it would cost the Scottish Government to keep the winter fuel payment for all pensioners rather than those on pension credit and other benefits.
In an interview, with BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show, the MP was asked whether he would use some of the £150 million to help pensioners affected by the cut.
Mr Murray dismissed the figure which has been reported in the media, saying it was “made up” and did not come from him.
He said: “I don’t have a £150 million pound war chest.”
He added: “My key priority is to get the process of the Scotland Office being a spending department, to get all those structural funds that was in our manifesto together in terms of making sure that the Scotland Office can spend some money that’s already being spent in Scotland on that growth, green brand and poverty.
“But I don’t have a £150 million war chest.”
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SNP Treasury spokesperson Dave Doogan MP asked why Mr Murray did not correct the newspaper at the time when it reported the £150 million figure before the country went to the polls.
He said: “Of course the Labour Government shouldn’t be riding roughshod over devolution, but the fact remains, they knowingly allowed people in Scotland to be told that Labour would invest £150 million which they are now washing their hands of.
“It’s no wonder the Labour Party is collapsing in the polls, when you can’t believe a word they say.
“It’s clear the SNP is the only party who can be trusted to deliver a better future.”
A spokesperson for Ian Murray later moved to clarify the minister's comments. They said: “The Scotland Office hasn’t been allocated any money to spend directly in Scotland, it is not yet a spending department. That requires a fiscal event like a budget which would require legislative change.
“The previously reported £150m figure was based on a calculation of levelling up fund spending in Scotland.
“Since the election we have discovered a £22 billion black hole in public spending.
“Labour’s manifesto committed to restoring decision making over these funds to representatives of the devolved nations and Ian wants the Scotland Office to work directly with the Scottish Government and local councils in Scotland to drive economic growth in our communities.”
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