Winter fuel payments: Wrong choice made, says Unite boss

Trade union bosses have criticised the government’s decision to withdraw winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners, saying it was the “wrong choice”.

Unite’s Sharon Graham told the BBC at the TUC’s annual conference in Brighton that the government needed to be ”big enough and brave enough” to admit they have made a mistake.

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced to defend his “tough decision” to remove winter fuel payments from most pensioners.

While think tanks have questioned how effectively the support was previously targeted, charities have raised concerns about the welfare of some pensioners in the upcoming winter months.

The payments of between £200 and £300 a year were paid to more than 10 million pensioners, but were axed for all but the poorest by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in July.

Ms Reeves said it was a necessary move to fill a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances left by the previous government – a claim the Conservatives have challenged.

”We think it’s wrong that the government has made a choice to cut the winter fuel allowance,” Ms Graham, who has been critical of Sir Keir, said on Sunday.

She suggested that the new government was, by contrast, “leaving the very rich and wealthy untouched” and called for the introduction of a wealth tax to boost government finances instead.

“They’ve got to make different choices. And of course, people may vote with their feet at the next election,” she added.

“Labour get one shot to get this right.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told the BBC he was ”really concerned” by the impact of means testing winter fuel payments.

He said he wants more support for pensioners but stopped short of calling on the chancellor to reverse her decision.

From this autumn, those not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the winter fuel payments.

“There will be some pensioners this year who aren’t eligible for pensioners tax credit, but who are not well off by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.

“We don’t want to go into the winter with pensioners afraid to put the heating on.”

Fran Heathcote, the general secretary of the PCS Union raised the prospect of industrial action over government cuts.

She said: “I can see a situation where, you If they continue along the line that they’re, they’re heading with, with not just winter fuel payments but with social security and benefits more generally, there will be a real backlash and that could take the form of industrial action if workers, you know, because lots of unions represent low paid workers.”

Speaking on Sunday with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg in his first major interview in Downing Street, Sir Keir said he was determined to deliver change and make urgent decisions around government spending.

Sir Keir also suggested the cut was necessary because of the state of the country’s finances, accusing previous governments of avoiding confronting the cost of the support.

“I’m convinced that because they’ve run away from difficult decisions, we haven’t got the change we need for the country,” he said.

He said he was “absolutely convinced we will only deliver that change, I’m absolutely determined we will, if we do the difficult things now. I know they’re unpopular, I know they’re difficult, of course they’re tough choices.”

While the chancellor’s decision only covers England and Wales, the Scottish government has also said it would end pensioners’ universal entitlement to the payment.

The benefit is separate from other support such as Cold Weather Payments, and the Warm Home Discount scheme.