LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — British ruling Labour Party lawmakers dealt a blow to Prime Minister Starmer on Wednesday by rejecting his decision to cut benefits that help cover winter heating costs for millions of retirees.
The vote on the final day of Labour's annual conference is non-binding but represents a setback for Starmer's efforts to unite his centre-left party around the controversial legislation.
Since taking office in July, Starmer has warned that the dire state of the finances he inherited from the previous Conservative government means he is forced to make tough choices, including scrapping the winter fuel allowance of 200-300 pounds ($262-393) for all but the poorest pensioners.
Trade unions, Labour's donors and allies, organized a campaign against the cuts at the conference in Liverpool, northwest England. They forced a vote to reverse the decision, which passed narrowly by a show of hands amid cheers and jeers in the conference hall.
“It's incomprehensible that the New Labour government can cut winter fuel costs for pensioners but leave the super-rich alone,” Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unity Labour union, said to applause from delegates. “This is not what the people voted for. This is the wrong decision and it needs to be reversed.”
The government has promised that the abolition of heating subsidies will be offset by above-inflation increases in state pensions and other measures to reduce poverty.
Minister for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall told delegates the cuts were “not a decision we wanted or expected”, but she insisted “this Labour government has done more to support the poorest pensioners in the last two months than the Conservatives have done in 14 years”.
In his first conference speech as prime minister on Tuesday, Starmer sought to unite his party and appeal to skeptical voters, telling them that voters exhausted by years of political and economic turmoil were ready for better times if they embraced his strategy of turning short-term pain into long-term gain.
The chancellor said he would take “tough decisions” – cut public spending and raise taxes – to pump money into schools, hospitals, roads and railways and achieve economic growth.
Starmer acknowledged some of these decisions would be unpopular but said “we will brace ourselves and face the storm”.
