Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says his party would bring back the winter fuel payment if elected to Holyrood in 2026 - despite it being the UK party who scrapped it.

From this autumn, those not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will not receive the payment of between £100 and £300 in England and Wales.

The Scottish Government said it had "no choice" but to follow suit as treasury funding for the Scottish benefit had been cut by between £140m and £160m.

The Unite union won a non-binding vote on reversing the cuts at the Labour conference in September, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer stating that he does not want to "risk" the public finances.

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However, the party's leader in Scotland has said that his party would bring the payment back if elected to the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Sarwar told the Daily Record: “A Scottish Labour government will reinstate the winter fuel payment for pensioners in Scotland.

“The winter fuel payment was supposed to be a devolved benefit this year and there were additional resources available to the Scottish Government through the Household Support Fund.

“That meant we could have taken a different approach in Scotland to support more households this year - instead, the SNP decided to hand the power back to the DWP.

"For months I have said that the eligibility criterion of pension credit is too low and called for a Scottish solution to this issue.

“That’s why Scottish Labour will take back this devolved power from the DWP, reinstate the winter fuel payment, and deliver a fairer system to ensure that everyone who needs support gets it."

Mr Sarwar previously faced a Holyrood rebellion over the payment, with senior party figures backing an SNP motion urging the UK Government to U-turn.

Central Scotland MSP  Richard Leonard - Mr Sarwar's predecessor - and Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley rebelled against Scottish Labour.

Justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill, community safety spokeswoman Katy Clark skipped the vote, alongside Carol Mochan, Rhoda Grant and Monica Lennon.

Mr Starmer has previously said that 'stabilising' the economy was "the only way we keep prices low, cut NHS waiting lists and secure the triple lock so that every pensioner in this country will be better off with Labour".

Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the decision to begin means testing the payment at the party conference, saying: "Faced with that £22bn hole that the Conservatives left this year, and with the triple lock ensuring that the state pension will rise by an estimated £1,700 over the course of this parliament, I judged it the right decision in the circumstances we inherited."