Exclusive:Poll: More Scots think UK Budget will leave them worse off than better off

Polling by Survation on behalf of the pro-independence think-tank Progress Scotland found just 12 per cent thought they would be financially better off as a result of the Budget. 

Meanwhile, 43 per cent said they would be worse off, and 35 per cent said they would be neither worse off nor better off. A further 10 per cent did not know.

Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £40 billion of tax rises as part of the Budget last month, with employers bearing the brunt. She said this was necessary to invest in public services and to plug a £22bn financial “black hole” left behind by the previous Tory government.

But SNP MSP Joe Fitzpatrick said it was "truly damning" that so many Scots thought the Budget would not “deliver the help they need or will even make things worse”.

He said: “With food prices set to spiral along with another increase in energy bills and mortgage rates on the rise, it’s shameful that Labour's first post-election Budget is set to pile even more misery onto households.

"Keir Starmer’s Budget is also set to hit small businesses, charities and care homes with its National Insurance increase.

“Whether it's coal, oil, renewables or agriculture, successive Westminster governments of all colours have proven they cannot be trusted to manage Scotland’s vital industries. Despite Labour’s promises of ’change’, it's now obvious Scots will continue to pay the price for disastrous decisions taken in Westminster."

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Labour’s transformative Budget will deliver for millions of Scots, giving a pay rise to hundreds of thousands of the lowest-paid workers, freezing fuel duty to protect motorists, and delivering the largest Scottish block grant in the history of devolution.

“This record-breaking level of funding gives the SNP the chance to improve Scots’ lives and reinstate the winter fuel payment, as Scottish Labour has committed to doing.

“Labour is protecting working people while ending the era of Tory austerity and cleaning up the financial carnage they left behind.”

Survation polled 3,016 people in Scotland aged 16 and over between November 1 and 15. It found support for Labour had fallen since September, dropping by four points in Holyrood constituencies and one point on the regional list.

Sir John Curtice, the polling expert, said the results would secure the SNP 42 MSPs, Labour 34, the Conservatives 18, Reform 14, the Liberal Democrats 11 and the Greens ten.

Earlier this week, Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said he would “reinstate” the winter fuel payment if he won the next Holyrood election in 2026.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer attracted criticism from across the political spectrum in the summer after announcing the benefit would only be available to those in receipt of pension credit or other benefits, just weeks after taking office.

Under Mr Sarwar’s plan, all pensioners in Scotland would receive it, but it would be tapered so that the wealthiest households received less.