Plymouth MPs vote to cut Winter Fuel Payment

Fred Thomas, newly elected Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View and Luke Pollard, returned as the Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
-Credit: (Image: Carl Eve/PlymouthLive)


Two Plymouth MPs have voted in favour of to take away the winter fuel allowance for hundreds of thousands of British pensioners. It comes as another Devon MP has told prime minister Sir Keir Starmer that taking the payment away is ‘not good governing’.

Mel Stride, the Central Devon MP who had hoped to become next leader of the Conservative party until he was ruled out of the contest on Tuesday afternoon, was speaking after the government won a vote on the issue.

A motion to stop the Labour’s move to cut the allowance for all but the poorest pensioners was lost by 348 votes to 228, with just one Labour MP, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, voting against his party. Fifty-two MPs abstained, which was at the higher end of expectations.

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Mr Stride, who is the shadow work and pensions secretary, said the cut had come as a ‘complete shock’ to pensioners. He said Labour had offered no explanation about why the decision was so urgent.

“This is not good governing,” he told the House of Commons. He said the policy was ‘absurd’ and would cause ‘untold hardship’.

How Devon’s MPs voted:

In favour of the government – Luke Pollard (Lab, Plymouth Sutton and Devonport); Steve Race (Lab, Exeter) and Fred Thomas (Lab, Plymouth Moor View).

Fred Thomas MP, Member of Parliament for Plymouth Moor View, said: “This was not a decision I wanted to make or expected to make, but the previous government hid a £22 billion black hole in the public finances that must be fixed.

“Because of our commitment to protecting the Triple Lock, the increase in the state pension under this government will outstrip any loss of winter fuel payments to pensioners.

“The least well-off pensioners will receive additional support through a means-tested Winter Fuel Allowance, and I am holding surgeries to ensure everyone has access to support they are entitled to."

Against the government – David Reed (Con, Exmouth and Exeter East); Rebecca Smith (Con, West Devon); Mel Stride (Con, Central Devon); Steve Darling (Lib Dem, Torbay); Richard Foord (Lib Dem, Honiton and Sidmouth); Rachel Gilmour (Lib Dem, Tiverton and Minehead); Ian Roome (Lib Dem, North Devon); Caroline Voaden (Lib Dem, South Devon) and Martin Wrigley (Lib Dem, Newton Abbot).

No vote recorded – Geoffrey Cox (Con, Torridge and Tavistock).

At the time of writing, it is not known whether Sir Geoffrey was ‘paired’ with a Labour MP, meaning he didn’t have to take part as his vote would effectively have been cancelled out.

Before the vote, Mr Darling said: “I’ve been contacted by dozens and dozens of residents on this matter.

“Under the previous government, lots of pensioners were dragged into paying tax from their modest pensions, and now the new government is set to give them a double whammy by withdrawing the winter fuel allowance.”

Labour claims increases to the basis state pension will pay more than the annusal one-off heating allowance they introduced in 1997, and that they will encourage greater take-up of pension credit by eligible households so that the winter fuel allowance will be more targetted.