Labour conference votes to reverse cut to winter fuel allowance in embarrassing blow to Starmer

https://news.sky.com/story/labour-conference-votes-to-reverse-cut-to-winter-fuel-allowance-in-embarrassing-blow-to-starmer-13221742

Posted by CaseyEffingRyback

17 Comments

  1. Rather politicised headline from Sky. In fact it is a non-binding vote that will make no difference to government policy..

  2. >Labour has justified its decision by saying it needs to stabilise the economy after the Tories left behind a £22bn financial “blackhole.”

    How do they know this if there is no impact assessment? It’s entirely plausible that the pension credit drive (a good thing) and the increase in cold-related hospitalisation (a bad thing) will incur costs significant enough to offset the savings from means-testing the payment.

  3. What’s the point in voting on anything at the conference? Starmer can and does just ignore it if he doesn’t like it.

  4. Shazalamadingdong on

    It may well be a non-binding vote and it may not affect government policy but it’s still a bruising for Starmer. Given the way he’s going on, it’s unlikely to be the last bruising. At times he sounds to me like Cameron did 14 years ago.

  5. It’s nice of voters to vote this way, but idk why they would still think Labour are in anyway a democratic party anymore. That’s something Starmer and Co have made abundantly clear they have no interest in. If voters still hold these values then they should get far far away from Labour.

  6. >I do not understand how our new Labour government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched.

    Everyone has been saying the same thing for a while.

  7. Great – so I get to support my mums upstairs neighbour who owns 4 properties (which she rents out) + the one she lives in because she’s old and poor. Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t 1 in 3 OAPs millionaires or am I being unfair here?

  8. I find it disingenuous that it is being paraded as a “cut to the winter fuel allowance” rather than “winter fuel allowance becomes means tested”.

    Granted; if I had an extra £200 each year to do what I pleased with ..

  9. Gov just really balled up the messaging on this. Could have easily won the argument if only they’d bothered to actually have it.

  10. The reaction to winter fuel allowance change is RIDICULOUS. How fucked are we with the triple lock that we are walking on glass over this teeny tiny change in comparison. Doomed.

  11. Government party members vote to give yet more free money to millionaires. Nothing ever changes.