Sir Keir Starmer is bracing himself for a clash with the unions as his determination to remove winter fuel payements from 10 million pensioners has sparked a significant rebellion among Labour MPs.
With the prime minster expected to address the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton, the UK’s top union leader has warned him that his lack of hope and new round of austerity will fuel rise of the far right in forgotten communities and bolster Nigel Farage’s push to win power.
Matt Wrack, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary who is currently president of the TUC, has warned Sir Keir that his mandate for power is based on a collapse in support for the Tories “not love for Labour”.
He warned: “People are in despair, and that’s how [far right] elements have won support here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.”
Mr Wrack admitted that union activists arrive at the annual conference “feeling much more positive” about the prospects for their members since Labour’s massive election victory in July. But serious differences remain over economic policy with fears that Starmer and his chancellor Rachel Reeves are heralding a new age of austerity similar to George Osborne after the baking collapse.
Sir Keir and Ms Reeves have gone into the political conference season after just two months in power insisting that the cancellation of winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners is necessary to fix a £22 billion black hole in the UK’s finances.
The pair have refused to back down on the issue even though health secretary Wes Streeting has expressed his disquiet. Added to that an early day motion put forward by new Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan opposing the measure has now been signed by five more Labour figures. The motion has now been signed by 36 MPs, including six suspended Labour MPs and 18 current Labour members.
And there is anger that the government has refused to publish an impact assessment on the winter fuel payment cuts before MPs vote on the issue in parliament. A written answer to former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said it would be “published in due course”.
While Ms Reeves says it will save the Trwasury £1.5 billion a year research by Labour, from when the Tories proposed means testing winter fuel payments in 2017, suggested the move would kill 4,000 pensioners.
The chancellor confronted angry MPs at a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party last night and told them: “There are more difficult decisions to come. I don’t say that because I relish it. I don’t, but it is a reflection of the inheritance that we face.
“So, when members are looking at where to apportion blame, when pensioners are looking where to apportion blame, I tell you where the blame lies. It lies with the Conservatives and the reckless decisions that they made.”
Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Mr Wrack made it clear he shared the anger over plans to take away winter fuel payments to 10 million pensioners and warned against using the “black hole” as a pretext for a spending cuts agenda.
“I think there have been some slightly worrying statements,” he said. “The Labour manifesto says there will be no return to austerity, and unions will be insisting on that. We’ve been told to tighten our belts for far too long, and I don’t think people are willing to take any more of that.”
Mr Wrack has got frustrated with the debate centring around the Labour government “making a choice” to increase wages for doctors and train drivers as well as other parts of the public sector above inflation with the removal of winter fuel allowance for pensioners or refusal to end the two child benefit cap.
“We don’t support the cuts in the winter fuel allowance, we support measures to tackle poverty, including lifting the two child limits and so on. So we do have disagreements with some aspects of the government’s policy and approach to this, and we don’t see a contradiction between those and raising wages for working for workers as well.
Addressing the rise of rightwing politics in the UK including the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the general election with almost 15 per cent of the vote and the far right riots over the summer, Mr Wrack warned that there was a “wake up call” for unions and Labour.
“There’s a big wake up call for the Labour government here,” he said. “Many of these areas where we saw those riots are in traditional Labour areas that have been neglected for decades, where, you know, there’s almost seen to be a Labour establishment, as some people would see it.
“We need something different. We need a change. And I think the challenge for the new government is to actually offer something that’s going to make real differences to people’s lives.”
Mr Wrack was as shocked as many when he saw scenes of fair right protesters attempting to set fire to hotels containing asylum seekers and he has linked it with the increase of popularity of Reform at the ballot box and rightwing parties in Europe such as Alternative For Germany which had strong election results last week.
The veteran union leader accepts that unions have a role countering the message of despair which the far right and parties like Reform feed on.
“I think that in terms of Reform that the trade union movement needs to take it seriously to win millions of votes cannot be dismissed, and we have to have our answers to that.
“While racism and far right ideas have a role that have played a part in that also there is the complete lack of hope in many parts of society and in many communities with deindustrialisation and the lack of jobs, decent homes, and public services.
“People are in despair, and that’s how these elements have won support here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.”
His warning to Starmer’s government as it engages on “tough decisions” and faces a rebellion among Labour MPs over winter fuel payments, is that it cannot take voters for granted.
“I don’t think they can take anyone for granted. I don’t think they can take the trade unions for granted, and they certainly can’t take the voters for granted. My interpretation of the election is largely a collapse for the Tories, rather than anything else.
“Part of the collapse of the Tories was the rise in the Reform votes that lost them more seats, and not a huge endorsement of Labour. So if Labour wants to get another term in the next general election, it has to tackle the underlying causes of how the far right and how Reform has grown.
“They can’t do that just by repeating the mantra of Treasury orthodoxy that there’s no money and so on. They’re going to have to find ways of investing in jobs and services.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We are absolutely committed to supporting pensioners through the triple lock which means that over 12 million pensioners will see their State Pensions increase by almost a thousand pounds over the next five years.
“But given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, it’s right that we target support to those who need it most. Over a million pensioners will continue to receive the Winter Fuel Payment, while many others will also benefit from the £150 Warm Home Discount from October to help with their energy bills over winter.
“We are urging pensioners to come forward and check their eligibility for Pension Credit to ensure as many people in need as possible have access to this support.”