Scottish Labour conference backs motion calling for winter fuel allowance u-turn

Scottish Labour conference has voted in favour of a motion calling on the Labour government in Westminster to reverse cuts to the winter fuel allowance.

The motion from Scottish Labour Women’s Conference and submitted by Dunbarton CLP and Unite called on the UK and Scottish governments to reverse the decision to means test winter fuel payments and support campaigns to encourage eligible pensioners to apply for pension credit.

It also called for a package of energy bills support from the Scottish government for vulnerable families, including low income pensioners.

Delegates in Glasgow attending the conference voted in favour of the motion, which was also backed by the Scottish Executive Committee.

A delegate from Unite said that the winter fuel payment had been a “really bad policy” and said it had alienated millions of pensioners.

She claimed that 50,000 pensioners would be placed into absolute poverty by the change every year.

“How can a Labour government justify that? They just can’t,” she said.

READ MORE: Scottish Labour chiefs lose conference vote for biology-based single-sex spaces

One delegate from the Communication Workers’ Union, who acts as a carer to his mum who suffers from dementia, told conference about how she had her winter fuel allowance removed just days before she was hit by a £700 tax bill. He described the cut to the winter fuel payment as a “disgusting attack on the neediest in our society”.

“It’s no surprise that policies like the cut to the winter fuel allowance went down badly with the wider electorate. Shocking polling figures in recent weeks highlight the depths of disillusionment caused by these failures at a UK level, with our Scottish Labour Party at risk of slipping to third place.”

It comes after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said in November that his party would expand eligibility for winter fuel payments should they form the next Scottish government next year.

The government and the national Labour Party were approached for comment.

Read more on Scottish Labour conference:

• Interview: Ian Murray on the latest polls, pat leave and Labour ‘not aping Reform’
• Scottish Labour chiefs lose conference vote for biology-based single-sex spaces
• Joani Reid MP: ‘Here’s why Scottish Labour shouldn’t despair at the polls’
• Delegates at Scottish Labour conference set to debate motions on winter fuel, Cass review, and others
• Scottish Labour conference: Emergency motion on Palestine to be debated
• Scottish Labour conference speech: Sarwar vows ‘big, bold meaningful change’

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