Labour payment: Elena Whitham supports calls for change

Delegates backed a union motion calling for the cut to be reversed at Labour's annual conference.

However, the vote is not binding on the government and ministers have made it clear the policy will not be changed.

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley MSP, Elena Whitham, has called on Scottish Labour to oppose the UK Government’s decision to cut the Winter Fuel Payment.

From this winter, only people on pension credit or certain other benefits will receive the payments, worth up to £300. (Image: NQ Archive)

Trade unions Unison and the Communication Workers’ Union tabled a motion calling on Labour to U-turn on the cut – which looks set to see almost 900,000 pensioners across Scotland miss out on the £300 payment this winter.

CWU described the decision as “taking away a lifeline for vulnerable people.”

Speaking about the move, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock, and Doon Valley, Elena Whitham, said: “Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar’s Labour was elected on the promise of change, but they have instead put party before pensioners, who are now paying the price for Labour’s dishonesty, and even their own membership knows it.

“While the Scottish Government uses its limited powers to support those who need it most, investing in communities and vital support for our most vulnerable households, the SNP will continue to oppose further cuts and it’s high time for Scottish Labour and Carrick, Cumnock, and Doon Valley’s new MPs to do the same.

“The Labour government must see sense, listen to their party membership and reverse this decision before pensioners across Ayrshire are forced to endure a winter without this lifeline.”

Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham won several rounds of applause when she made a powerful plea at the conference for the allowance to be restored.

She 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 is the wrong decision and needs to be reversed."

General Secretary of the Unite union, Sharon Graham. (Image: PA)

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall earlier said the Government had “done more to help the poorest pensioners in the last two months than the Tories did in 14 years” as she defended the cuts.

She said: “Focusing winter fuel payments on the poorest pensioners wasn’t a decision we wanted or expected to make, but when we promised we could be trusted with taxpayers’ money – we meant it.

“And when we were faced with a £22 billion black hole, which the Tories left this year, we had to act, because we know what happened when Liz Truss played fast and loose with the public finances. It was working people and pensioners on fixed incomes who paid the highest price.

“The biggest ever drive to get pensioners on pension credit, backed by our commitment to the pensions triple lock. This will increase the state pension by an estimated £1,700 this parliament, with an extra £6 billion of funding forecast next year.”