Keir Starmer accused of ‘shocking betrayal’ on winter fuel allowance as he suffers first defeat in House of Lords with peers passing motion slamming the plan
Keir Starmer suffered his first defeat in the House of Lords last night as peers condemned the winter fuel payment axe.
A motion ‘regretting’ the controversial move to strip the allowance from 10million pensioners was passed by 164 votes to 132.
Although the Government fended off a bid to kill the plan altogether, the setback underlines the scale of the backlash.
Earlier, Sir Keir squirmed as he was slammed by Rishi Sunak at PMQs.
In tense clashes, the Tory leader warned that thousands of pensioners could die this year due to inability to heat their homes.
He jibed that 50 of Sir Keir’s own MPs had mysteriously discovered ‘urgent business elsewhere’ on Tuesday night rather than voting to support the plan in the Commons.
However, the premier shot back that the previous government had left a £22billion ‘black hole’ in the finances and ‘action’ had to be taken.
Keir Starmer suffered his first defeat in the House of Lords last night as peers condemned the winter fuel payment axe
A motion ‘regretting’ the controversial move to strip the allowance from 10million pensioners was passed by 164 votes to 132
Labour is facing mounting fury after the Commons approved axing winter fuel payments worth up to £300 for all pensioners on incomes over £11,400.
After a day of drama just one Labour MP – veteran left-winger Jon Trickett – voted against the measure, although more than 50 abstained.
Tory former pensions minister Baroness Altmann, who ultimately failed in her attempt to derail the plan last night, said: ‘I would support this measure if it were dated 2025 instead of 2024, giving time to put in place some mitigation and protection for these poorest pensioners.
‘Those on pension credit are not the poorest, they are getting extra help.
‘Those just a few pounds a week above the limit (for pension credit) or those eligible who don’t claim and receive it, they are the poorest and there is nothing in these regulations that will ensure they receive the money they were expecting and has been withdrawn from them with no warning, no time for them to economise in time for the cold weather this winter.’
She added: ‘It isn’t logical to say we have to take it away from the poorest because we want to take it away from the well-off.’
Lady Altmann later told the chamber: ‘They are at risk in their homes. This is the last chance, I believe, to protect them and help them keep warm this winter.’
Conservative frontbencher Baroness Stedman-Scott branded changes to the winter fuel payment a ‘betrayal on a shocking scale’.
She said: ‘If the public finances were so tight – as the Chancellor would have us believe – ministers would be showing pay restraint across the board, and in fact the truth is quite the opposite.’
She added: ‘It’s becoming clearer every day that the Government will prioritise train drivers, junior doctors, civil servants, for their own political vanity projects, over the needs of the most vulnerable pensioners.’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warning of more pain to come in the Budget next month
Former Brexit Party MEP Baroness Fox of Buckley said the debate over curbing winter fuel payments had led to ‘boomer bashing’.
The non-affiliated peer said: ‘In this instance, the nice party, I’m afraid, is in danger of having stirred up quite a lot of antagonism and hatred to a generation who deserve better – ordinary working people, who just happen to be old.’
The House of Lords backed by 164 votes to 132, majority 32, a so-called ‘regret motion’, proposed by the Tories.
The administration had earlier seen off a Conservative backbench bid in the unelected chamber to scupper the measure outright by 138 votes to 30, majority 108.
