Last night, the government suffered its first challenge in the House of Lords, with 164 Peers voting in favour of a motion expressing ‘regret’ that pensioners will be ‘worse off in Winter’.
Though symbolic in nature, the vote was still indicative of the continued criticism being levelled at the Government over its winter fuel payments policy.
But it could have been much worse: a motion to annul the Government’s proposal was defeated and the Prime Minister managed to brush off Rishi Sunak’s accusation in the Commons that he was ‘hiding’ the impact of the payment cuts. But with the Budget expected on October 30th, could this week be a sign of further challenges to come?
Among those who abstained from the Commons vote were several government ministers, including Hilary Benn MP, Diana Johnson MP, and Nick Thomas-Symonds MP. The majority of the fifty-three abstainers were given permission to skip the vote, with just one Labour MP, Jon Trickett, voting with the opposition. Number 10 will now be considering what action should be taken against MPs who defied the whip.
The Government has been keen to defend the proposal, encouraging older people to take up the support that they are entitled to. The Department for Work and Pensions recently launched a week of action to drive up claims for pension credit for those eligible as some 880,000 pensioners are currently missing out. Labour politicians who voted with the Government have also been keen to stress that full state pensions are set to rise by some £460 and that the poorest pensioners will remain in receipt of the fuel payment.
Yet, for MPs representing constituencies with many older constituents, the reduction in Winter Fuel payments remains a hard pill to swallow. This is illustrative of the underlying tension between the need to make difficult decisions and the need for MPs, particularly those with small majorities, to champion the interests of the communities they represent.
Despite the motion of regret in the Lords, and a greater number of MPs abstaining than expected, growing pains of this nature are anticipated in the early days of any government. But with new Labour MPs keen to please their constituents, a House of Lords showing an appetite to push back, and Number 10 wanting to get a handle on the economic narrative; these growing pains may be here to stay.
