Streeting ‘not remotely happy’ over winter fuel cuts
THE Health Secretary has said he is “not remotely happy” with the plan to remove the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners.
Wes Streeting spoke as up to 40 Labour backbenchers prepared to defy Sir Keir Starmer by abstaining in tomorrow’s vote on whether the cut should go ahead. A small number of MPS are also expected to vote against the policy and have been warned they could lose the whip as a result.
The Prime Minister vowed yesterday that he would plough on with the change, saying his government was prepared to take “unpopular decisions” for the good of the economy.
While Mr Streeting conceded that the policy, announced by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, in July, would have a negative impact on his constituents, he insisted that it was necessary because of the state of the economy bequeathed by the Tories.
“I think it is a tough choice, and we’ve had plenty of political criticism for it, I think, which demonstrates the political pain of it,” he told Sky News.
“I’m not remotely happy about it, and I’m not remotely happy about having to say to some of my constituents: ‘I’m sorry that I’m going into work this week to vote for something that will take money away from you’...
“Let me tell you that whether it’s pensioners or anyone else in this country, they won’t forgive us if we duck the difficult decisions now and end up leaving the country with a bigger bill, a bigger price of failure in the future.”
Other cabinet ministers are understood to share the concerns about the plan. Labour rebels say they have been threatened with the suspension of the Labour party whip if they vote against the government on the motion.
Last night, Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, was understood to be ringing rebels in a bid to limit the size of the revolt.
Today, Ms Reeves will address Labour MPS in the Commons to explain her decision to strip the benefit, worth up to £300 a year, from all those who receive pension credit.
Around 10 million will lose the payments. She has faced pressure to change the policy so that more pensioners on very low incomes keep the payments.
Many potential rebels are considering restricting themselves to abstention
because of the “chilling effect” of Sir Keir’s decision in July to suspend the whip for six months from seven Labour MPS who voted against the decision to keep the two-child child benefit cap.
Rebels expect around 40 MPS to abstain, plus a small number to vote against it. The rebellion could be similar in size to that over the decision not to lift the two-child benefit cap last July.
It comes as it emerged Labour’s own research predicted almost 4,000 pensioners could die if the benefit was stripped from millions of people under plans that were considered by Baroness May. The research, uncovered by the Daily Mail, claimed 3,850 pensioners would die if the proposal went ahead.
Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Sir Keir urged MPS to vote for the cut to winter fuel.
“I’m absolutely convinced that we will only deliver that change if we do the difficult things now,” he said. “I know they’re unpopular, I know they’re difficult. Of course, they’re tough choices.
“Tough decisions are tough decisions. Popular decisions aren’t tough, they’re easy. I do recognise how difficult it is for some people. I do recognise it’s really hard for some pensioners.”
He also said that many people agreed that the winter fuel allowance needed to be more “targeted”.
One Labour MP who was considering rebelling said that there were no signs the Government was backing down, and that the whipping operation was having a “chilling effect”.
“So far, the line is if you vote against, we can’t guarantee you’ll keep the whip,” the rebel said. “Abstention is the new voting against. Obviously there are lots of people who want to vote against. But it’s very important to keep the whip and stay in the tent.”
One Labour Party source said many of the new MPS were “nervous” about the vote after their inboxes filled up with “f---loads” of emails from angry constituents and campaigners.