THE SNP has called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to “follow Scotland’s lead” in cost of living support for young people.

Pointing to free bus travel for the under-22s, free university tuition, and the educational support allowance (EMA), newly elected SNP MP Lara Bird argued young people in Scotland were saving thousands of pounds compared with their counterparts in England.

The EMA was scrapped in England back in 2014, a measure that is estimated to have saved the treasury £8 billion since.

But the £30-a-week payment — available to low-income teenagers between 16 and 19 in school or further education — is estimated by the House of Commons Library to have benefited 21,000 young people in Scotland in 2024/25 through £775 million of payments.

As the Prime Minister begins his cost-of-living tour, Ms Bird urged him to restore EMA in England, a move that could see an extra £90m for the Scottish government under Barnett consequentials.

She said: “Andy Burnham must follow Scotland’s lead by matching the SNP government’s cost-of-living support for young people, including in areas like free bus travel for under-22s, where many young people in Scotland are saving over £1,000 a year compared to young people in England.

“Doing so would deliver more funding right across the UK, meaning the Scottish government would have more money to deliver more cost-of-living support for families and young people in Scotland too.”

A UK government spokesperson said it was “determined to provide breathing space on the cost of living,” adding: “In his first weeks in office, the Prime Minister has taken immediate action to put more money in people’s pockets, including by cutting VAT from electricity bills and capping bus fares in England and Wales.”