IT'S day 25 since the disappearance of Anas Sarwar, and we are now at the point where milk cartons are about to hit the supermarket shelves bearing a rare photograph of Anas Sarwar not sneering and the slogan: Missing, have you seen this hypocrite? Last seen in a BBC Scotland studio gloating about the General Election.

If you see him, please let Pacific Quay know where he is so that they don't have any excuses for not holding him to account.

It was never a surprise to keen observers of Keir Starmer and his acolytes in the Scottish branch office that they would fight a General Election campaign characterised by lies and duplicity.

Neither was it a surprise that Labour's deceit would be enabled and facilitated by BBC Scotland and a Scottish media which sees its main role as being to fend off independence.

What is surprising is just how quickly the wheels have come off Starmer's “change” bandwagon.

In just a few short weeks of “change”, we've seen Labour MPs voting to retain the hideously cruel two-child cap on benefits, a return to austerity as Chancellor Rachel Reeves pretended to be surprised about a £22 billion shortfall in public finances that Labour had been warned about for months, only to dismiss the warnings as scaremongering.

READ MORE: 'I don't accept there will be cuts': Sarwar urged to apologise for misleading voters

Yesterday Reeves announced that she would be scrapping the Winter Fuel Payment for all pensioners in England and Wales who are not in receipt of benefits. That's everyone with a household income of more than approximately £11,000 a year, not exactly a huge sum.

The charity Age UK has warned that some two million pensioners could be pushed into poverty as a result of making the fuel payment means-tested.

Scottish pensioners are likely to be particularly hard hit by the cut, not only is Scotland the northernmost part of the UK with the lowest winter temperatures, it's also the part of the UK with the highest average fuel bills.

To add insult to injury, it's also the part of the UK which produces the greatest amount of energy, most of which is exported to the rest of the UK.

In Scotland, responsibility for the Winter Fuel Payment has recently been devolved. The Scottish Government is taking over responsibility for the Winter Fuel Payment and is introducing the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, which is expected to be in place by this winter.

Once the new Scottish payment is in place, the UK Government will provide a Block Grant Adjustment for the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment. Prior to Reeves' announcement this adjustment was expected to be around £180 million a year.

However, due to the decision taken by Reeves yesterday, fewer pensioners in England will qualify for the payment, which will have a knock-on effect on the Scottish block grant, leaving a shortfall of approximately £100m which the Scottish Government will have to find elsewhere in order to mitigate the effect of Labour austerity cuts.

Unlike the Westminster Government, the Scottish Government has only very limited powers of revenue raising and will have to find the money by squeezing other parts of its spending. Sarwar will then come out from whatever rock he's currently hiding under to appear on Reporting Scotland, complaining about “SNP cuts”.

READ MORE: Scottish Government 'will need to find £100m to mitigate Labour cuts', minister says

Once again, we see how the devolution settlement acts as a mechanism for transferring blame for funding decisions made in Westminster to Holyrood. Already BBC Scotland has turned this from a story about a Labour austerity cut into a story about the SNP refusing to give a "guarantee" that Scottish pensioners will be protected.

Perhaps the most depressing aspect of yesterday's decision was the arrogant and high-handed manner in which it was carried out. Starmer promised “change” and a “resetting” of the relationship between Westminster and the devolved governments.

Despite that promise, the Labour Government made its decision to stop the Winter Fuel Payment being a universal benefit for all pensioners without bothering to consult with the Scottish Government about its likely impact on devolved issues or the Scottish Budget.

That's the kind of patrician behaviour we came to expect from Alister Jack and the Tories. Labour politicians are behaving in the exact same Colonial Office mould.

In a statement, the Scottish Government has said it is “deeply disappointing” that it was not consulted before Reeves announced a package of cuts in aimed at tackling the £22 billion black hole in public finances.

READ MORE: 'Deeply disappointing': Scottish Government not consulted on Winter Fuel Payment

A Scottish Government spokesperson told The National: “Responsibility for Winter Fuel Payment will be transferred to the Scottish Government this winter (2024-25), with these payments funded from within the 2024-25 Scottish Budget.

“The full implications of the Chancellor’s statement are being examined, however it’s understood means-testing Winter Fuel Payments will reduce the funding given to the Scottish Government associated with our planned replacement Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

“That such a change can be made without any consultation or discussion with the Scottish Government Ministers is deeply disappointing given both governments committed to resetting the relationship between them.

“The Scottish Government is committed to tackling fuel poverty and has consistently supported vulnerable households through a range of actions.”

Ivan McKee, the Scottish Minister for Public Finance, told the BBC that the fact his Government had been given only 90 minutes’ notice of the cuts showed Labour’s claimed reset of devolved relationships “clearly hasn't happened”.