There are over a million reasons to vote against Labour on winter fuel cuts

MPs will today vote on the Labour government's plans to scrap the universal £300 winter fuel payment for pensioners, restricting this vital support to people with less than £12,000 annual income. Dozens of Labour MPs have expressed opposition to the clampdown, but Starmer’s government has insisted they will go ahead.

It will be the first major vote for new MPs: will they back Keir Starmer’s cuts, or protect pensioners living on as little as £218 a week from this penny-pinching policy?

The public will get a measure of their new Labour MPs today.

Around 50 Labour MPs are expected to vote against their party’s orders. They could face a similar punishment to the seven Labour MPs who disobeyed Starmer in July. Just weeks after the election, the seven MPs who put “country before party” were suspended from the Labour Party whip for six months.

The most likely rebels will be those who signed an Early Day Motion against the policy - essentially a petition by MPs.

Newly elected Labour MP, Neil Duncan-Jordan, started the petition opposing the cuts and demanding a delay until the government has a plan to tackle poverty among older people.

Another signatory from the Labour benches, Dr Simon Opher, a GP who came into politics after seeing that life expectancy in poorer areas of his constituency is ten years less than in the wealthier areas.

But you don’t have to be a doctor to understand the devastating health impact of living in a cold home: it increases the risk of many health conditions risks including heart attacks, stroke and lung disease.

The NHS is just one example of how this short-sighted saving on winter fuel payments could actually cost the public much more money in the long run.

Many pensioners who lose £300 with little warning will be forced to make the heartbreaking choice between heating or eating.

Demand on food banks and other social support will almost certainly increase as a result. Pressure will increase on already overstretched social services as more people become too frail to care for themselves at home.

All this human misery will have a huge financial cost.

There are over a million reasons to vote against the government today: because over a million low income pensioners will be hurt by this policy.

These are political choices, and each MP will today have to make their own choice. I'm sure that most MPs know cutting the winter fuel allowance is wrong, but how many MPs will now be brave enough to do what is right?

As a Green Party MP, I refuse to take money away from struggling pensioners who have nowhere else to turn.