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The head of the UK’s largest union has urged Sir Keir Starmer to U-turn on “picking the pockets of pensioners” by cutting the winter fuel allowance for around 10 million people.
Ahead of a crunch vote on Tuesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves will address a closed-door meeting of Labour MPs amid unease over her plans to axe the payment of up to £300 for all pensioners except those in receipt of those claiming pension credit or other means-tested benefits.
Dozens of Labour MPs are expected to abstain in Tuesday’s vote, after seven had the whip removed for voting against the the two-child benefit cap, amid fears that cutting the allowance will cost lives and leave people requiring hospital care.
In an embarrasment for Sir Keir, it emerged that Labour had warned in 2017 that Theresa May’s manifesto pledge to make the same cut would cause 3,850 excess deaths.
Citing plans to cut winter fuel payments and the infamous “dementia tax”, Labour had warned that re-electing the Tories on such a platform would “represent the single biggest attack on pensioners in a generation”.
Seventeen Labour MPs sign motion opposing winter fuel cut
Five more Labour MPs have today signed the early day motion opposing the winter fuel allowance cut, bringing the total to 17.
Diane Abbott, Grahame Morris, Rosie Duffield, Andy McDonald and Chris Webb have all added their names today ahead of tomorrow’s vote in the Commons.
They join former shadow ministers such as Jon Tricket, John McDonnell, Clive Lewis and Ian Lavery, as well as Labour MPs Rachael Maskell, Nadia Whittome and Bell Ribeiro-Addy among the total of 37 MPs.
Six of the seven MPs who had the Labour whip removed for opposing the two-child benefit cap have also signed the motion, tabled by Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan.
No 10 asked whether Starmer worried pensioners could die as a result of cuts
Sir Keir Starmer will always be “straight with the public,” Downing Street said when asked if the prime minister was worried that people had formed the wrong impression of his Government over the winter fuel policy.
“The prime minister has always been clear that he will always be straight with the public about the tough decisions that this Government has to take,” a No 10 spokeswoman said.
Asked whether Sir Keir was worried that pensioners may die as a result of the cuts, the spokesperson told reporters “the focus of government is ensuring that support is properly targeted to those that need it”.
Ministers agree on ‘fixing foundations of our economy’, No 10 says
Downing Street has insisted that cabinet ministers agree over the importance of “fixing the foundations of our economy,” which it said cutting the winter fuel payment would help to do.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister opened cabinet by stating the importance of fixing the foundations of our economy in order to carry out the government’s mandate for change. He said that given the scale of inheritance this would be difficult and that tough decisions are unpopular decisions, but it is the tough decisions that will enable change for this country.
“The chancellor added that unless we grow our economy we will not see the improvements in living standards and public services that the country deserves, but that we must first restore the state of public finances.”
Rachel Reeves said that “everything starts with stability, but investment and reform are key,” according to the readout.
Downing Street said ministers agreed the government would not be able to “reverse” problems “overnight” but “important progress has been made, including creating the national wealth fund, reforming planning, our fresh approach to working with local leaders, and preparation for the international investment summit this autumn which will showcase UK excellence to the world”.
The Guardian cited a cabinet source on Sunday as complaining that the policy “hasn’t even been thought through properly”, warning: “We’re going to end up with more old people in hospital or care as a result, with all the costs involved in that.”
Winter fuel cut is ‘just wrong’, warns Age UK director
Caroline Abraham, director of Age UK, has warned that the winter fuel cut is “too mean” and takes “money away from too many people who really need it”.
It is “just wrong” that a pensioner will no longer receive this allowance if their annual salary is above £11,500, Ms Abraham told the BBC, adding: “The government is not short of options.
“This is a mistake and the sooner that is understood and responded to, the better for them and the better for older people.”
Minister was incorrect to suggest government looking to mitigate winter fuel cut, No 10 suggests
Asked whether policing minister Dame Diana Johnson had been “freelancing” when she said mitigations were being looked at by ministers, a No 10 spokesperson told reporters: “I think it was promptly corrected.”
Dame Diana earlier told the BBC that the government was working to ensure all pensioners who were entitled to pension credit claimed the benefit, adding that she was “sure” other mitigations were being looked at by ministers.
However, Treasury sources later told the PA news agency that Dame Diana “misspoke” in suggesting the government was looking at doing more than encouraging further take-up of pension credit.
No discussion of softening impact of winter fuel cut at cabinet, No 10 says
There was no discussion of softening the impact of the winter fuel cut at cabinet on Monday, Downing Street said.
Whipping for the vote over the government’s plans to scrap the winter fuel allowance for all but the country’s poorest pensioners was also not discussed at cabinet, a No 10 spokesperson told reporters.
Labour MPs opposed to the policy are expected to abstain rather than vote against the government after Sir Keir Starmer removed the whip from seven MPs who voted against him on the two-child benefits cap.
Cut comes as energy bills to increase by almost £150
The winter fuel payments cut is set to come as average household energy bills are to rise by £150 per year.
Regulator Ofgem announced last month that the average home energy bill will increase from £1,568 to £1,717 on 1 October, as it raises its price cap by 10 per cent.
When was winter fuel allowance introduced?
There were gasps reported in the House of Commons when chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her plans to cut winter fuel payments, first introduced by her predecessor Gordon Brown in 1997.
Mr Brown said at the time that he was “simply not prepared to allow another winter to go by when pensioners are fearful of turning up their heating, even on the coldest winter days”.
Labour said in 2017 that deaths among the elderly had fallen from around 34,000 to 24,000 since the introduction of the winter fuel payment in 1997, allowing for variation in winter weather.
Watch: Keir Starmer continues defence of winter fuel allowance cut
‘No Labour MP is happy’ with winter fuel cut, says new MP
“No Labour MP is happy about this, no Labour MP is comfortable with it,” former journalist Paul Waugh – now the MP for Rochdale – told the BBC’s Westminster Hour programme.
But he argued that the winter fuel payment cut is necessary to help fill the £22bn “black hole which you cannot ignore”.
