Unite proposed the motion calling for Labour to change course
Delegates at this year’s Labour Party Conference have dealt a blow to the party leadership by backing a motion calling for the government to not go ahead with its planned cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance. The non-binding resolution passed by the conference says that Labour should “reverse the introduction of means-testing for the Winter Fuel Allowance“.
Alongside this, the motion called for the introduction of a wealth tax on the top 1% of earners in the UK.
The motion was proposed by the Unite trade union and seconded by a delegate from the Communication Workers’ Union.
Speaking in support of the motion, Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: “People simply do not understand, I do not understand, how our new Labour government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched.
“This is not what people voted for. It’s the wrong decision, and it needs to be reversed.
“Friends, we are the sixth richest economy in the world. We have the money. Britain needs investment, not austerity mark two.
“We won’t get any gold badges to shaving peanuts off our debt. These fiscal rules are self-imposed, and the decision to keep them is hanging like a noose around our necks.”
Labour’s conference passing the motion is highly embarrassing for the prime minister Keir Starmer and the chancellor Rachel Reeves, who have faced heavy pressure to not go ahead with the changes to the Winter Fuel Allowance. Earlier in the conference, Reeves said cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance was “the right decision in the circumstances that we inherited”.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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