Sir Keir Starmer faces a Labour backlash over the Government’s decision to strip the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners.
Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan has tabled a Commons motion calling on the Government to delay its plan, becoming the first Labour parliamentarian to break ranks and publicly demand that the Prime Minister rethinks the move.
Mr Duncan-Jordan’s motion said the measure was being introduced “without prior consultation or an impact assessment, nor with sufficient time to put in place a proper and effective take-up campaign for pension credit”.
It failed to take account of the “modest incomes” of those just above the threshold for pension credit, he argued, and was announced before a 10 percent hike in the energy price cap – which will cause the average household’s bill to rise by £149 from October.
He warned “colder homes make older people more susceptible to poor health, including hyperthermia, respiratory and circulatory disease” and called for a delay on the policy until there was a “comprehensive strategy aimed at tackling fuel poverty, health inequalities and low incomes among older people”.
Other public signs of dissent in Labour’s ranks were scant as MPs gathered for the first Parliamentary Labour Party meeting after the summer recess.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall took questions on the issue at the meeting on Monday (September 2), but those leaving would only describe the gathering as “collegiate” when asked by reporters.
The Conservatives accused the Government of running scared by declining to put the plans to a vote in Parliament.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “Not only do they want to block Parliament having a say on their plans, they have not published an impact assessment as they want to hide the true costs to pensioners.
“There is no reason not to grant this debate and vote on this other than to ride roughshod over Parliament – the only reason Labour aren’t granting one is because they are running scared of asking their own MPs to vote on this matter.”
Only people receiving pension credit or other means-tested benefits will be eligible for the payment in England and Wales. Ministers said the cut is needed to help fill a so-called £22billion black hole in the public finances.
Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch accused ministers of being “dishonest” about the state of the public finances, claiming they were trying to “pull the wool over the eyes of the British public”.
Sir Keir defended the move, which is intended to save around £1.5billion this year.
He said: “I don’t want to cut the winter fuel allowance … but we’ve got to fix the foundations of our economy and that’s what this is all about – making sure that we fix the foundations and then, having done that, that we can build a better future that pensioners and so many other people voted for in this election.”
The Lib Dems have also called for a vote, with deputy leader Daisy Cooper saying: “To push these cuts through without any other measures to mitigate the impact on millions of poorer pensioners, and with minimal parliamentary scrutiny, risks damaging the public’s trust in politics and putting the most vulnerable at risk.”
