Dozens Of Labour MPs Abstain On Winter Fuel Cut Vote
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused back down on the decision to make winter fuel payments for pensioners means-tested. (Alamy)
3 min read
Dozens of Labour MPs failed to vote with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a House of Commons vote on the Government decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners.
In a House of Commons vote on Tuesday afternoon, the Government won by 348 to 228.
Just one Labour MP, John Trickett, voted against the Government. He faces potentially losing the Labour whip as a result. Fifty three Labour MPs abstained.
Eight ministers were among those that abstained on the vote who would have been expected to vote with the government.
A Labour source added that only a dozen of the abstentions had not been authorised. They stressed that MPs often abstain due to "legitimate" reasons like medical appointments, travel and pairing with the opposition.
Elsewhere, five of the seven MPs who lost the Labour whip in July for voting against the Government did so again on Tuesday, casting doubt over whether the whip will be restored.
Speaking ahead of the vote, shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said the decision was "absurd" and urged Labour MPs who are concerned about the consequences for elderly people to "look to your conscience".
There had been suggestions in the days leading up to the vote that dozens of Labour MPs who are uneasy about the decision to cut the support for pensioners would defy Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves by voting against the measure, leading to a big rebellion.
Prominent left-wing Labour MPs Diane Abbott and Clive Lewis signed an early day motion opposing the decision. It was also signed by MPs like John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana, who lost the Labour whip in July after defying the Government in a vote on scrapping the two-child cap.
Speaking to PoliticsHome on Monday, a Labour MP who planned to vote with the Government said the idea of 50 MPs rebelling was fanciful, and claimed that a far larger number of back benchers would be angry if Starmer and Reeves had performed a late U-turn.
“We can’t be a government that ducks big decisions because they’re short-term politically difficult," they said.
Upon entering office, the new Labour Government has repeatedly argued that it has inherited the worst public finances of any government since 1945, and that the nation's finances are worse than they expected. Reeves has accused the previous Tory government of leaving a black hole in the public finances worth £22bn which she must repair through "tough" decisions.
One of these decisions is making the winter fuel allowance, support which is currently available to all pensioners, a means-tested arrangement.
During a speech at the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Tuesday morning, Starmer said he would make "no apologies" for the decision the new Labour government was taking.
"So when I say ‘country first, party second’ – that isn't a slogan; it's the guiding principle of everything this Government will do, we ran as a changed Labour Party and we will govern as a changed Labour Party," said Starmer.
"So I make no apologies for any of the decisions we’ve taken to begin the work of change.
"And no apologies to those, still stuck in the 1980s who believe that unions and business can only stand at odds, leaving working people stuck in the middle. Who cannot see that this country needs a new path on growth."
And on Monday night in a meeting with the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), Reeves defended the Government's choices on the winter fuel allowance. .
“There are more difficult decisions to come," she told Labour MPs.
"I don't say that because I relish it. I don't, but it is a reflection of the inheritance that we face.
"So, when members are looking at where to apportion blame, when pensioners are looking where to apportion blame, I tell you where the blame lies. It lies with the Conservatives and the reckless decisions that they made."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
