Powell says 'big mistakes' by Labour could cost party Holyrood election

Powell, who has been in Scotland canvassing support from Scottish Labour members to be the UK party's next deputy leader, said decisions made in Westminster had "detracted" from efforts by Anas Sarwar to win the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

Speaking exclusively to LBC she said members - and voters - in Scotland had raised the issues of winter fuel payment cuts, retaining the two child benefit cap, and not giving Waspi women compensation, as reasons to "lose trust" in Labour.

She said: "These elections next year are really important and I want to support Anas who will be a brilliant First Minister if we can get him over the line, and I want to make sure that things we're doing in the UK government support his efforts to get elected and don't detract from then, because I think at times they have detracted and he can't be immune from that."

Powell, who met with former Labour PM Gordon Brown while in Scotland, said it was "critical" the party lifted the two child benefit cap.

"It's not my job to write the Budget but it's really important if we want to see those levels of child poverty coming down over this Labour government's term then we need to lift that cap in the Budget coming up.

"Not only will it lift children out of poverty but it will give a much clearer sense of who's side we're on and what the moral purpose of this Labour government is, which is to cut child poverty and help those most in need, that's what we're about."

Keir Starmer has consistently refused to commit to lifting the two child cap while in opposition and in his first year as Prime Minister.

Both Powell and Bridget Phillipson, who is also running to be deputy Labour leader, have said that for them scrapping the cap is a priority.

It has been reported that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering a change, if not a complete scrapping of the policy, instead introducing a "tapered" system of paying parents less for each child they have.

The Scottish Government has said it will mitigate agains the cap in its Budget for next year.

Other policy decisions such as cutting the winter fuel payment for thousands of pensioners, and refusing to stand by pledges to compensate the Waspi women pensioners, have also helped drive a massive drop in support for Scottish Labour.

At the General Election polls suggested around 35 per cent of Scots supported Labour, but more recently that has fallen to a low of 17 per cent.

Powell told LBC: "I've heard a lot about those issues in Scotland and they have been big mistakes that have led to a loss of trust in the Labour government and I want to turn that around.

"I want to do this job differently now. We're directly electing a deputy leader of the party and I want to do that full time politically all the time, so I can spend more time than my ministerial colleagues can around the country, in Scotland, working with Anas and making sure those messages and that communication is as strong as it can be so there's that two way feedback what's happening on the ground and our communities directly affecting what we're doing in the UK government."

Powell was dismissed from her position as Leader of the House of Commons as part of a Cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of then Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.