Unite aims to force vote on winter fuel payment at Labour conference

Unite will attempt to force a vote at the Labour party conference to reverse the winter fuel payment cuts, in what could be an embarrassing row for Keir Starmer’s first conference in government.

Unite, a strong critic of Starmer, is hoping to attract the backing of the largest union, Unison, for the motion to condemn the cut. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the measure and others were necessary because of the state of Labour’s economic inheritance.

The cut for all but the poorest pensioners receiving pension credit caused widespread disquiet among Labour MPs when it was voted on in parliament last week. A total of 52 Labour MPs did not vote on the motion, but government sources said that all but 12 of these had been given prior permission to miss the vote.

Unite will hope the motion makes it to the floor during the conference in Liverpool next week – and though the vote is nonbinding, any significant show of dissent from unions and delegates would cast a shadow on Labour’s first conference in government for 15 years. Unison’s delegation is expected to decide its position on Sunday.

Unite’s motion also calls for and end to Reeves’ fiscal rules, as repeatedly called for by the head of Unite, Sharon Graham, to allow Labour to borrow more to invest in infrastructure and public services. It will also call for a “just transition” from oil and gas to net zero, a key division with Labour, which has said it will end new oil and gas licences.

The motion says that “workers and communities voted for change – a better future, not just better management and not cuts to the winter fuel allowance”.

It adds: “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 will call on the government to U-turn in the October budget, “reversing all cuts to the winter fuel allowance”.

Several of the biggest unions affiliated with Labour have a keen interest in the issue because they have large retired members’ sections. Unite launched a campaign earlier this month to defend the winter fuel payment.

Separately, in a boost to Starmer’s majority on Labour’s governing body, four pro-leadership centrist candidates were elected on Wednesday night to the party’s national executive committee (NEC). The leftwing slate, backed by the grassroots group Momentum, lost a seat on the body, which has significant power in the party over parliamentary selections and party conference. The NEC now has four pro-Starmer members, three from the left and two who ran as neutrals.