Keir Starmer going through showdown with Labour rebels over Winter Fuel Payment lower

Keir Starmer faces a showdown vote over plans to cut the winter fuel allowance for 10 million pensioners.

As many as 50 MPs could take a stand against the move in a Commons vote as union leaders urged the Government to change course. The Prime Minister will come under pressure from Labour‘s union backers when he addresses the TUC Congress in Brighton, where workers are expected to grill him.

Delegates will vote on a motion condemning the cut shortly after Mr Starmer makes his keynote speech. The PM will then return to Parliament for a crunch vote, where dozens of his own MPs are expected to abstain.

Union leaders blasted the plan to drastically scale back the lifeline payment, so it only applies to people receiving pension credit. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the move back in July as she grapples with a £22billion black hole the Tories left in the public finances.

She pleaded with MPs to stick together, telling a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP): “We stand, we lead and we govern together.” Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham called on the Government to target the wealthiest Brits rather than pensioners. She said: “People do not understand how a Labour Government has decided to pick the pocket of pensioners and, at the same time, leave the richest in our society totally untouched. That is wrong and he needs to change course.”

PCS leader Fran Heathcote, whose union administers the payment, told the Mirror : “It shouldn’t be the poorest and the most vulnerable that pay for the cuts. Whilst Rachel Reeves says there are some difficult decisions, there are lots of difficult decisions that could be taken that don’t impact on the poorest in society.”

She said there was real strength of feeling among unions on the issue – and warned they would not tolerate “austerity-lite”. RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said the Government mustn’t act like “the Grinch” this winter.

Speaking at a TUC fringe event, he said: “The call has got to be on Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer, because that’s where I think it’s centred… to correct this mistake. Why do you want to get off on the wrong foot in the first Budget by appearing to be the Grinch at Christmas?”

“They’re going to have to do something about this historical mistake, but they will always be known as the people that stole the winter fuel allowance.” Around 50 Labour MPs are expected to refuse to back the Government in the vote.

Rebels were pushing Ms Reeves to delay the scheme for at least a year so that wider mitigations could be put in place. It comes amid fears of a “cliff edge” for hundreds of thousands of pensioners who will miss out on the payments.

Rolling out NHS fuel prescriptions and social tariffs to bring down energy bills on social tariffs are among the measures rebels want put in place. Rachael Maskell, who has warned that excess deaths among pensioners will rise as a result of the policy, told The Mirror: “I think from my perspective the Government is going to have to come up with mitigations because without people are going to go cold.”

It is understood that Labour whips won’t punish MPs who abstain in today’s vote. Downing Street insisted that the Cabinet was united behind the decision after several ministers admitted unease with the move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said at the weekend that he was not “remotely happy” about cutting winter fuel allowance but said it was essential to balance the books.

Home Office Minister Dame Diana Johnson said she understood it was a “hard decision”, telling the BBC : “I myself have had lots of constituents contact me, so I know how difficult this is.” Asked if she was surprised by the backlash, she said: “No, I’m not surprised by the amount of concern that there is about this, and obviously we do not want to see anyone struggling with energy bills, particularly pensioners.

“The winter fuel allowance, we know, is not a targeted benefit at the moment but it’s going to be targeted and that’s why it’s so important that the poorest pensioners are getting everything they’re entitled to to support them.”

Ms Reeves warned Labour MPs there are “more difficult decisions to come”. Speaking to PLP members, she said: ““I understand the decision that this government has made on winter fuel is a difficult decision.. I’m not immune to the arguments that many in this room have made. We considered those when the decision was made.”

But she said it’s “right to target money at a time when finances are so stretched, at people who need them most”.

She went on: “There are more difficult decisions to come. I don’t say that because I relish it. I don’t, but it is a reflection of the inheritance that we face. So, when members are looking at where to apportion blame, when pensioners are looking where to apportion blame, I tell you where the blame lies.

“It lies with the Conservatives and the reckless decisions that they made.”