A protest against the cut outside the conference

SIR Keir Starmer told the Labour Party conference in Liverpool that he knew plans to take away the winter fuel allowance from all but the very poorest pensioners was an unpopular move – as unions demanded the issue was debated more widely and campaigners called for the plans to be scrapped.

The measure will see means-testing and exclude most elderly people in the country.

While a host of new MPs were arriving at their first conference since reaching the Commons, there was a clear effort to avoid too much triumphalism against the backdrop of a winter fuel row which is likely to run on as the nights draw in and with energy bills due to rise.

Mr Starmer tackled the subject head-on in his main stage speech and said that he knew some people might be “concerned”, but added: “If this path was popular or easy, we’d have walked it already – but the risk of showing to the world, as the Tories did, that this country does not fund its policies properly… that is a risk that we can never take again. Stabilising our economy is the first step of this long term plan.”

Mick Lynch interviewed for our video channel

His government has made no big spending commitments and councillors on Merseyside this week will have heard no promise of large cheques for local government (see pages 6-7). Instead Mr Starmer and Ms Reeves insist they have to take tough decisions first to balance the books and grow the economy.

The increasingly thorny issue of the winter fuel support cut has been likened to Tony Blair’s often forgotten decision to cut a lone parent benefit very soon after coming to power in 1997. Mr Blair, with a huge parliamentary advantage, squared up to rebels in his own party.

Mr Starmer has blamed a £20 billion finance crater left by the Conservatives for moving to policies which were not spelt out in the Labour election manifesto ahead of the July 4 vote.

He said: “I understand that many of the decisions we must take will be unpopular.

“The cost of filling that black hole in our finances, that will be shared fairly. We will get the welfare bill down because we will tackle long term sickness and support people back to work. There will be no return to Tory austerity.”

Sir Keir Starmer

Outside of the conference main hall, however, there were warnings from unions that the public sector would not accept any claims that the winter fuel cuts were needed to pay for spending like the rises negotiated for their workers.

At a fringe meeting on the ‘new deal’ for workers’ rights, Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT, said there would be attempts to change the government’s minds or “at least mitigate the worst of what they are doing. We don’t want a return to austerity so we have to hold them to account. He [Mr Starmer] said there would be no return to Tory austerity – the winter fuel payment cut is a version of austerity.”

Speaking after the same meeting in the Liverpool docks, Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, said: “Where we have seen Labour be bolder is where we have pushed them to be bold. There is a lesson to anyone there, There’s still a chance they will be overturned on the winter fuel payment.

“Our union is campaigning for a different way of funding for higher education. We are not going to give up just because we are getting negative answers from Labour. People keeping pressure up is the only way change ever happens.”