PM refuses to say if MPs who rebel will be stripped of the whip – but makes clear he expects their support in key vote
Keir Starmer has urged Labour MPs to support his “unpopular” plan to remove the winter fuel allowance for all but the poorest pensioners, saying the government could not run away from difficult choices.
“That will be a matter for the chief whip,” he told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. “We’re going into a vote. I’m glad we’re having a vote, because I think it’s very important for parliament to speak on this. But everyMP was elected in on the same mandate as I was, which was to deliver the change that we need for the country.
“I do recognise how difficult it is for some people. I do recognise it’s really hard for some pensioners. But of course, they do rely on the NHS, they do rely on public transport. So these things aren’t completely divorced.”Starmer, however, argued that with the triple lock policy of pension increases, he could guarantee that the annual increase in the state pension “will outstrip any reduction in the winter fuel payment”.
“The reason I’m actually going and having the visit is not about that at all. It’s because the situation in Ukraine is becoming ever more pressing, as is the situation in the Middle East.”
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