Boos heard in Labour convention important corridor over winter gasoline allowance cuts
Boos and heckles ripped across the Labour conference main hall after a debate calling for a U-turn on the winter fuel allowance cuts was delayed.
One union official said it was an “outrage” that a debate on reversing the winter fuel allowance cuts would not take place on Monday. They said it was “disrespectful” to members who had been expecting to It is unconfirmed when it will take place but there has been some briefing that it may not be this week.
It has sparked anger among union officials who were organising the debate and vote, as they say it would have been most impactful taking place as early as possible during Liverpool’s conference. A conference organiser was greeted by a wave of fury in the main hall when she said Unite and the CWU’s motion was not scheduled on Monday.
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”.
Lynne Morris, who chairs the conference arrangements committee (CAC), was heckled and booed by some delegates 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.”
Unite, one of Labour’s biggest union backers, and the CWU had been seeking to force a vote on Monday to save the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the summer that she would strip the annual payment from more than 10 million pensioners as part of efforts to fix the mess the Tories made of the economy.
It means only those who get pension credit or other means-tested benefits will get the allowance this winter, which is worth up to £300. It is unconfirmed when delegates at Labour’s conference in Liverpool will debate the issue, with talks on the wording of a motion to scrap the plan running into Sunday evening.
