Sir Keir Starmer has been dealt a humiliating blow on the final day of the Labour Party conference as delegates voted to oppose the Government’s winter fuel raid.
The revolt, led by trade unions, will pile pressure on the Chancellor to reverse the cut affecting millions of pensioners in next month’s Budget.
The vote is non-binding, meaning that the Government is not obliged to change the policy.
However, the rebuke over one of the first financial decisions taken by Labour in office is an embarrassment for No 10.
The motion, calling on the Government to “reverse the introduction of means-testing for the winter fuel allowance”, was passed by delegates as business wrapped up on Wednesday.
It initially looked as though it might have failed, because the vote appeared extremely close.
However, Wendy Nichols, the chair of the panel, confirmed that the motion had carried.
As well as urging Labour to reverse the winter fuel cut, it also called for a wealth tax on the top 1 per cent of earners.
The vote was initially expected to take place on Monday, tying in with a plenary on the economy.
But in a move that infuriated the unions, it was delayed until the final day of the conference, after most senior Labour figures, including Sir Keir, had left.
It was claimed the vote had been shifted to the “graveyard slot” in an attempt by No 10 to kick the issue into the long grass.
However, the Government was unable to stave off a defeat, with conference voting in favour of the motion shortly before noon.
Sharon Graham, the boss of Unite, one of Labour’s biggest donor unions, said that the winter fuel cut was “not what people voted for”.
Speaking in favour of the motion on Wednesday, she said that the 1945 Labour manifesto had “no mention of cuts, no mention of austerity and certainly no mention of making everyday people pay”.
She said: “Labour knew then that to make Britain more equal, they had to act and think differently.
“They knew to make it count and they knew to make a better difference. Labour could not simply be better managers, they had to make lasting change.
“They promised jobs, they promised homes and they built a National Health Service on the back of crisis. There wasn’t a story of tightening belts or making some of the poorest in our society pay.
“Friends, people certainly do not understand and I do not understand how our new Labour Government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched.
“This is not what people voted for. It’s the wrong decision and it needs to be reversed.”
MP ‘proud’ of vote result
Rachael Maskell, one of Labour’s leading critics of the winter fuel raid, said that she was “proud” that the conference had voted to oppose the policy.
The MP for York Central posted on X: “I am proud that the Labour Party conference has voted to maintain the winter fuel payments. Our party was created to protect working people, and today it has determined that it must never step back from that mandate. I trust the Government can now keep our pensioners safe and warm.”
Ian Byrne, a Liverpool MP who had the Labour whip suspended for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, said that he was pleased to see the motion pass.
He posted on X: “Pleased that Labour conference has just carried a @unitetheunion motion to stop the Govt’s cruel cut to the winter fuel payment for pensioners.
The winter fuel allowance is worth up to £300 per year. For more than two decades it has been given to all pensioners, but the Government announced in July that it would be restricted to those on certain means-tested benefits.
On Wednesday morning, Sir Keir refused four times to apologise to pensioners for scaling back the payments.
In an interview with Good Morning Britain, the Prime Minister repeatedly refused to say sorry, instead blaming the Conservatives’ economic record and a £22 billion black hole.
