Fresh hope for reintroduction of winter fuel allowance as Labour faces demands to reverse cuts
PENSIONERS have been given hope the winter fuel allowance could be reintroduced as Labour face pressure to reverse the cuts.
Trade Unions have called for Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer to bring back the payments for all OAPs.
The Labour Government had previously told 10million pensioners they would lose the money, worth up to £300, to pay for heating and energy during the cold months.
Now, three unions – Unite, Usdaw and the PCS – have called for Sir Keir’s administration to reverse the cut.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) will vote on whether it will oppose the policy during its conference next week but reports indicate it is expected to pass the motion.
Speaking about the cut, the PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote told The Telegraph: “Morally, it was the wrong thing to do. It is something they can very easily put right.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told the BBC: “Why are Labour picking the pockets of pensioners on the winter fuel payments instead of making those with the broadest shoulders actually pay?”
Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves will feel the pressure from the powerful unions to either reverse the cut or adjust it so it ensures the poorest pensioners get the much-needed money.
No 10 has already criticised for bowing to union pressure after it agreed a number of above-inflation pay settlements in an attempt to bring an end to long-running strikes.
The Commons is due to hold a crunch vote on the issue on Tuesday, and more than a dozen Labour MPs have already voiced criticism of the current stance.
However, a Treasury source told The Telegraph there would not be an about-turn, saying: “It’s really difficult, but it’s necessary to begin to repair the public finances.”
The TUC will hold its first conference since Labour came to power from Sunday to Wednesday in Brighton.
It is expected to see the union body seek a string of policy changes, including for Labour to increase capital gains tax and to go further in repealing anti-strike laws.
Under the union plan for the winter fuel payments, it will only go to people getting pension credit, meaning that those with an income of £13,000 a year will lose out.
Some though had said the threshold is too low.
The PCS, which represents civil servants, including those overseeing the winter fuel payments scheme, has managed to change a motion to be voted on at conference to include opposition to the cut.
Ms Heathcote told The Telegraph: “We deal first hand with pensioners in receipt of winter fuel payments currently.
“We know how much they rely on them. If you take those payments away people will have to make really hard decisions about heating their homes and eating.”
Usdaw, which represents retailers, effectively backed that stance when it agreed on Thursday to the line on opposing the cut being added to their original motion about Universal Credit.
An Usdaw source told the paper: “We know the feeling in the country.”
They also added concerns about poor pensioners losing, saying the “pressure” could force Labour to act by altering their approach so that more people kept getting the payments.
Labour accused of ‘punishing pensioners’
By Ryan Sabey
MINISTERS risked a major backlash as a “routine” £400 planned rise in the state pension doesn’t make up for the winter fuel allowance axe.
Treasury internal analysis reveals they expect the benefit to go up by average earnings which will kick in next April for millions of elderly Brits.
The measure means the overall increase in incomes for OAPs is likely to be £100 or £200.
Tory leader Rishi Sunak used a heated Prime Minister’s Questions to question why Sir Keir Starmer decided to give train drivers a pay hike – while cutting the benefit.
He said: “The government doesn’t have to choose to take money off low paid pensioners and give it to highly paid train drivers. He can’t justify it.
“Government is about making choices, and the new Prime Minister has made a choice.
“(He) has chosen to take the winter fuel allowance away from low-income pensioners and give that money to certain unionised workforces in inflation-busting pay rises.
“So can I just ask the Prime Minister, why did he choose train drivers over Britain’s vulnerable pensioners?”
The PM said: “This Government was elected to clear up the mess left by the party opposite, to bring about the change that the country desperately needs. Our first job was to audit the books, and what we found was a £22 billion black hole.”
The criticism comes as Labour MP Rachael Maskell has suggested she can’t vote with the government to end the universal winter fuel cash.
She told the BBC: “I couldn’t vote for this, but I think what we are saying, this is bigger than a vote because this is about protecting people’s lives and ultimately that is our responsibility as MPs, to speak to truth to power.
“That is all we are doing is to say actually there are some people in danger here, that are at risk, and we need the Government to step in like Gordon Brown did when he introduced the winter fuel payment.”
Unite is also running a campaign against the cuts.
The three unions are among the seven biggest trade unions in the UK with more than 1.5million members.
Together, the unions have donated millions of pounds to Labour over the years, including to individual MPs.
The unions are expected to vote on the opposition to the winter fuel payments on Wednesday.
MPs are due to vote on Tuesday.
The Government is unlikely to be defeated in the vote but some Labour MPs could rebel and vote against it or abstain.
The Treasury has claimed there is a £22billion “black hole” in public spending which needs addressing.
The stopping of the winter fuel payments saves the Government around £1.5billion a year.
Labour MPs who could potentially rebel are said to have been spoken to by figures in the Treasury, Downing Street and the whips’ office, expressing sympathy but saying the “difficult” decision had to be made.
Pensioners could face more financial pain in the October 31 Budget.
Should the Treasury scrap the single person’s council tax discount, four million pensioners would lose out.