UK
Dozens of MPs refuse to back plans to cut winter fuel payments
Sir Keir Starmer has survived his second Commons rebellion in weeks. With his massive majority it was a comfortable win and only one Labour MP voted against the leadership – but there were more than fifty abstentions.
We don’t yet know how many of them were deliberate rebellions and how many were allowed to stay away for work or private reasons. Ministers accused the Conservatives of faking outrage at the cut.
Only one Labour MP votes against cutting winter fuel payment for pensioners as more than 50 absentees revealed
10 September 2024, 20:18
Only one Labour MP voted against cutting the winter fuel payment for all but the country's poorest pensioners
Jon Trickett, the MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, said he voted against Sir Keir Starmer’s government over concerns about more pensioners falling into poverty.
Despite a further 52 Labour MPs not recording a vote, the Conservative motion to block the measure was defeated by 348 to 288 votes - a majority of 120.
Labour had previously said they would not hold a vote on the decision but u-turned after facing a backlash over the move that will see 10 million people stripped of their fuel allowance this winter.
The number of recipients is expected to reduce from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving the exchequer around £1.4bn this year.
Shouts of "shame" could be heard in the House of Commons chamber as the result of the vote was announced.
It is unclear how many Labour MPs actively abstained as not voting does not automatically equate to an abstention given they may have received permission to miss it for reasons, such as travel, medical appointments, or official meetings.
But among the 52 Labour MPs to note vote were Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty, Defence minister Maria Eagle and Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson.
A Labour source is claiming that only a dozen of the MPs who did not vote were “not authorised”.
Labour suggest the numbers not present in the vote are typical and say the average number of Labour MPs absent is 51.
Five of the seven Labour MPs suspended from the Parliamentary party for voting against the government over the two-child benefit cap also backed the Tory motion, as did former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and other members of his independent alliance.
Mr Trickett's rebellion means he could also be suspended from Labour given the vote was subject to a three-line whip, which means MPs should vote according to their party's position.
In a statement on social media, he said: "This winter will be extremely difficult for my constituents of all ages. After years of obscene profiteering by energy companies, they are hiking bills once again."
He said that pensioner poverty "can be a matter of life and death" and he has worked "behind the scenes to try and change the government's position, but to no avail".
"I could not in good conscience vote to make my constituents poorer," he added.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the measure in July as part of a series of measures to fill a “£22bn black hole” in the public finances.
However, some MPs from Labour's side, as well as charities and opposition MPs, have been calling for a U-turn, saying the policy will leave less well-off pensioners with "a heart-breaking choice between heating and eating this winter".
Among the Labour MPs who spoke out against the cut ultimately abstained from the vote was Rachel Maskell, who said pensioners will be "frightened" to turn on the lights in case they cannot pay their bills.
Two others, Imran Hussain and Rebecca Long-Bailey, abstained.
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