Union chief Sharon Graham called for Sir Keir Starmer to “pull back” from axing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.The Unite boss issued the demand ahead of a vote on the controversial step at Labour’s annual rally in Liverpool.Opponents of the decision to restrict winter fuel payments, so only those on pension credit get it, staged a noisy protest against it in the conference complex before the vote.
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00:00Save the winter fuel, save the winter fuel, save the winter fuel, save the winter fuel.
00:07We are expecting a vote today, so it's now back on to Conference's agenda, right at the last knocking,
00:13so at least it's on there, and there's a really serious point here that the government need to pull back
00:17from what they're doing on the winter fuel allowance, they're picking the pocket of pensioners
00:21when they should not be doing that, they need to reverse.
00:23Are you confident of winning?
00:25Well look, if this floor looks like the rest of society, if it's got the same feeling and anger
00:29as the rest of society, it should sell through, and so I don't know whether we're going to win,
00:33but we're going to go and take it to the vote.
00:35And how do you feel about it being pushed right to the end of Conference,
00:37the Prime Minister's not even here, what's your message to him?
00:40Well look, I think it's disrespectful to have moved it, it was supposed to be in the economy debate on Tuesday,
00:43but either way, we are going to move the motion and we're going to vote on the motion,
00:47and really it's not what happens here, this is a bubble, it's not what happens here that's important,
00:51it's what people think outside this Conference hall, and they are disgusted, quite frankly,
00:55that this has happened in terms of the winter fuel allowance.
00:57And the Work and Pensions Secretary is due to speak later, can we expect any disruption of that?
01:01Well I don't think there's, I mean we'll listen to what she's got to say,
01:04I mean obviously it's respectful to listen to what people have got to say,
01:06and for us to win our argument by debate, but I don't think there's anything that she can say
01:11that can justify picking the pocket of pensioners at one hand,
01:14and leaving the absolutely, abhorrently wealthy on the others completely untouched, it's a mistake.
01:20Brilliant, thank you very much.
01:21It's clear that the government's not going to change their mind, so what...