Labour delegates BOO showdown vote on winter fuel allowance axe being delayed until Wednesday… when Keir Starmer will be out of the country
Labour delegates booed today as a showdown vote on the winter fuel allowance was delayed until Wednesday.
Unions have been trying to force a debate at Liverpool on the controversial move to strip 10million pensioners of up to £300 a year.
But the timing has now been pushed back after intense wrangling on the party’s organising committee – with claims the schedule is ‘too busy’ for a debate this afternoon.
Instead the clash – which the leadership is resigned to losing – is likely to take place after the PM has given his keynote speech. And Sir Keir Starmer will not even be present as he is due to be travelling to the UN general assembly.
As the session opened this morning, Lynne Morris, who chairs the conference arrangements committee (CAC), was heckled as she said: ‘This is a really busy conference and we are trying to accommodate as much as we can, and I’m going to take this back straight to CAC and I’ll come back to you with an answer ASAP.’
Activists were then admonished from the stage for booing.
Despite the open revolt, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has insisted there will be no U-turn on the plan, and the vote will not be binding on the government.
In other developments at the conference today:
- Ms Reeves has admitted Labour’s freebies bonanza ‘looks a bit odd’ and reassured unions there will not be a return to ‘austerity’;
- Angela Rayner is facing accusations over a taxpayer-funded ‘vanity photographer’ who has been taking glossy pictures of her at work;
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting has risked fuelling infighting over No 10 chief aide Sue Gray by swiping that people are acting like she ‘shot JFK’;
- A poll has found Labour’s election-winning coalition is ‘eroding from the inside’ amid the meltdown over winter fuel and freebies.
As the session opened this morning, Lynne Morris, who chairs the conference arrangements committee (CAC), was heckled over the winter fuel debate timing
Activists were then admonished from the stage for booing the announcement on the debate
Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves on the stage at the Labour conference today
Ms Reeves has again insisted there will be no U-turn on the winter fuel cut, pointing to a claimed £22billion ‘black hole’ in the government finances
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh at the conference in Liverpool – which has been blighted by the stormy weather wracking Britain
Merchandise on offer at stands at the annual gathering in Liverpool
The winter fuel spat has been intensified by the backlash over Sir Keir, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and other senior figures accepting ‘freebies’ including clothes, tickets and holidays.
But Ms Reeves has again insisted there will be no U-turn on the winter fuel cut, pointing to a claimed £22billion ‘black hole’ in the government finances.
Unite’s Andy Green said: ‘This is simply an attempt to take out the debate on the winter fuel allowance.
‘Today is economy day at conference and we have the Chancellor speaking and a composite motion on the growth mission, which is scheduled for this morning.
‘So, it is more of a surprise, in fact an outrage, to us that the composite motion from Unite and the CWU on economy for the future is not listed on the agenda for today.
‘It is disrespectful to our members and every single delegate here and conference itself, who voted for the priorities ballot.’
CWU’s senior deputy general secretary Tony Kearns questioned why the motion was not scheduled and why it has been briefed that ‘it’s unlikely to be scheduled for debate this week’.
The conference clash – which the leadership is resigned to losing – is likely to take place after the PM has given his keynote speech
Former Manchester United star Gary Neville and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy at conference today
In a round of interviews this morning, Ms Reeves said she had not ‘expected’ or ‘wanted’ to make changes to winter fuel payments.
She told the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4 this morning that ‘I was not planning to make these changes to winter fuel payment.
‘These were not changes that I expected to make or wanted to make, but when faced with a situation when there’s a £22 billion black hole – not some year in the future – but this year in the public finances, it requires difficult decisions.’
The Chancellor defended taking £7,500 worth of clothes from a donor during the election campaign. She also confirmed that she accepted free holiday accommodation in Cornwall valued at £1,400 for her family.
But she stressed that she will not be receiving free clothes in future.
The Chancellor also played down fears of deep spending cuts to fill her claimed £22billion ‘black hole’ in the government finances, saying there would be no return to ‘austerity’.
Puddles of water in a drenched Liverpool as the Labour conference continues
Shadow Treasury minister Gareth Davies said the Tories would not have scrapped winter fuel payments for all pensioners.
It’s a ‘political choice’ for Labour to reduce eligibility for the payment, he told GB News.
‘They have chosen on the one hand to hand massive pay rises to the unions, while at the same time taking away support for pensioners ahead of winter. That is a political choice.’
Asked how the Conservatives would have plugged the ‘black hole’ in the public finances, he said the opposition was ‘questioning the validity’ of the claimed £22 billion gap and that the Tories had had a plan to ‘make savings on welfare, to crack down on tax avoidance’ that Labour was not taking forward.
‘What this is really all about is what they always wanted to do, and that’s roll the pitch for tax rises, which will come in the Budget. They’re now starting to admit that. That will harm growth and I thought this Government was all about growth.’
