Unions to press for winter fuel allowance cut to be reversed

Unions will press the UK Government on Wednesday to reverse its controversial cut to the winter fuel allowance.

A motion will be debated on the final day of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool which is expected to receive strong support from unions.

Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will put forward the motion, which was originally set to be debated on Monday.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has described the policy as “cruel” and has called on the Prime Minister to admit he made a “misstep”.

She has said: “The first thing Labour does is to take away the winter fuel allowance from the poorest in our society while they leave the wealthiest people pretty much untouched.”

Policy change

CWU officials will not be at Labour’s conference on Wednesday as they are attending the funeral in Scotland of the union’s former assistant general secretary Andy Kerr, who used to be on Labour’s national executive.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward told the PA news agency that the union will continue to campaign for the policy to change.

“We don’t accept it is good economics,” he said.

The motion being debated says that workers and communities voted for change, “not cuts to the winter fuel allowance”.

“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,” it says.

The motion calls for means testing of the winter fuel allowance to be reversed and for an end to fiscal rules which prevent borrowing to invest, as well as the introduction of a wealth tax.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said in his conference speech on Tuesday that he understood concern over the winter fuel allowance but stressed that stabilising the economy was the first step of a long-term plan, adding: “Every pensioner will be better off with Labour.”