A MOTION is set to be put to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this afternoon to oppose PM Starmer’s scrapping of the Winter Fuel Allowance.
The exact wording of the motion was being argued over last night, but it is expected to include explicit opposition to the policy.
The Unite union has drawn up a motion calling on the government to reverse ‘all cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance’ in the Budget on October 30th.
The wording was to be debated with other unions last night, with a final version expected to be put to the conference today.
The Unite motion states: ‘On August 27, the PM warned voters to “accept short-term pain for long-term good”. Britain cannot wait for growth, nor turn back to failed austerity.
‘We need a vision where pensioners are not the first to face a new wave of cuts and those that profited from decades of deregulation finally help to rebuild Britain.’
Appearing on Sky News with Trevor Phillips, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘You’ve got a situation where the first thing that Labour does is take away the Winter Fuel Allowance from the poorest in our society, whilst they leave the wealthiest people pretty much untouched.
‘The top 50 families in Britain, the wealthiest families in Britain, are worth £500 billion, that’s the same as half of Britain, why was that not the choice made? Why wasn’t the choice made to tax the wealthy? Why would you hit pensioners? It’s completely wrong and we need to reverse it.’
She continued: ‘The reality is the Winter Fuel Allowance saves around £1.4 billion. It’s peanuts, actually, in the greater scheme of things in terms of what we’re talking about.
‘The wealth tax Ism proposing – 1% on the richest 1% – would bring in £25 billion. That would take away the so-called black hole. Job done. We’d have £3 billion left over.
‘Why would you think it was the right thing to do to actually take away the Winter Fuel Allowance?
‘I’ve got people stopping me and speaking to me in workplaces and high streets and saying “what are Labour doing?” It’s almost jaw-dropping that Labour have made that decision. They need to reverse that decision.’
Phillips said: ‘One of your sponsored MPs Diane Abbott has complained that Keir Starmer promised change, but the main change he has delivered, she said, is to put the Labour Party in the hands of millionaire donors. Do you agree?’
Graham replied: ‘Well I think they are making the wrong choices. Why they are making the wrong choices we don’t know. We’re not in any of the rooms where they are having those conversations. How we’ve got ourselves in the position where they’ve made that decision on the Winter Fuel Allowance I can’t even imagine how that conversation started and I certainly can’t imagine how it got agreed.
‘Wrong choices are being made and they need to listen. Good people who want Labour to do well are finding it quite frankly embarrassing that we are in a situation where we are taking that money off of the poorest in our society and they need to reverse that decision.’
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