Unions have voted to condemn the government’s decision to means test pensioners’ winter fuel payments, in a blow to No10 as the Labour conference came to a close.
A non-binding motion brought by Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) was backed by delegates in a vote on Wednesday morning in the main hall in Liverpool.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have faced pushback after opting to axe the winter fuel allowance for all but the poorest pensioners, after taking office.
The vote came just minutes before the annual party conference closed, after being delayed to the final day of the event,
Named ‘An Economy for the Future’ and tabled by the Unite union, the motion was narrowly carried by a show of hands in a rowdy hall.
It followed a protest staged by Unite members outside the hall. Shouts of “save the winter fuel” could be heard during the debate, from delegates in T-shirts branded with the slogan.
The motion does not mean the government will change its decision, and No10 was said to be prepared for the vote to pass – but it represents a symbolic defeat for the leadership.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “People simply do not understand – I do not understand – how our new Labour government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched.”
She added: “The government is picking the pockets of pensioners and people are furious. We will continue to campaign to have the allowance put back into pensioners’ pockets.”
While work and pensions minister Liz Kendall told delegates: “Focusing winter fuel payments on the poorest pensioners wasn’t a decision we wanted or expected to make.
“But when we promised we could be trusted with taxpayers’ money, we meant it… that is why we took what I know is a very difficult decision.”
She insisted the government had “done more to help the poorest pensioners in the last two months than the Tories did in 14 years” and said the state pension would rise by some £1,700 over the length of this Parliament.