Labour pressured MP to withdraw motion on winter fuel payments

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Whips acting for Sir Keir Starmer have pressured a new Labour MP to withdraw a motion brought to the House of Commons that calls on ministers to delay scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners.

Withdrawing an “early-day motion” after it has been published and gained signatures would be a rare step, and indicates how seriously the government is taking the prospect of a rebellion at a crucial vote next Tuesday. 

Whips in the Labour office this week contacted Neil Duncan-Jordan, a former campaigner for pensioners who won the seat of Poole at the July election, to request that he take it down, according to three people briefed on the discussion.

Ten Labour MPs, including figures on the left of the party such as Clive Lewis and Kim Johnson, as well as three members of the new 2024 intake, have so far signed the motion, which aims to delay the measure.

Senior members of the Labour government are growing increasingly uneasy about a mutiny over its decision to save £1.5bn by scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners who do not receive benefits, a proposal that would end support for around 10mn people.

Although the government majority in the Commons means the measure is unlikely to be defeated, a significant rebellion by Labour figures would be a major blow to Starmer’s authority less than three months after he won a landslide in the July election.

Duncan-Jordan, who won his Poole constituency with a majority of just 18 votes, worked for many years for a pensioner pressure group, the National Pensioners Convention, and then as a regional officer for Unison, the union. 

His motion calls on the government to postpone ending the winter fuel payments and instead establish a comprehensive strategy to tackle fuel poverty.

Duncan-Jordan declined the whip’s request to rescind the motion, the three people said. When contacted by the Financial Times, Duncan-Jordan declined to comment.

Andrew Mitchell, former Conservative chief whip, said: “This is most unusual. It would be clearly humiliating for anyone with the privilege of being an MP to bow down in front of such crude tactics.”

Downing Street and the whips’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

The fuel payments cutback was announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves in July as one of the “painful decisions” needed to close what she claimed was a £22bn fiscal hole.

Labour peers including former cabinet minister Lord David Blunkett have also strongly attacked the plan at a private meeting on Wednesday, according to people who attended. 

The Tories are seeking to capitalise on internal Labour party discontent over the policy with their own vote on scrapping the policy in the commons next Tuesday, when the extent of the rebellion is likely to be laid bare.

Starmer has previously shown himself willing to take tough action against those who defy the party whip and vote against government policy, including suspending seven MPs who voted against Labour’s plans to retain the Conservatives’ two-child benefit cap in July.

This week Starmer has tried to contain the row by stressing his commitment to the pension “triple lock”, which the prime minister said would increase the state pension by about £1,000 over five years.

Kim Johnson, who has signed the non-binding early day motion, said: “I would urge the government not to push [the policy] through next week, and look at postponing it for a few months”.

She warned that it was viewed by her constituents in Liverpool Riverside — one of the most deprived seats in the country — as the “Labour party not acting like the Labour party”.

She added: “Go after the richest 1 per cent rather than people that are struggling: that makes far more sense.” 

Labour MP Rachael Maskell, one of the sponsors of the motion, said dozens of MPs had expressed worry and upset about the policy, including one who approached her in tears. 

Maskell, who said she was afraid the plan could lead to excess deaths this winter, said she had been in contact with the whips and Reeves directly asking them to rethink the policy.