Winter fuel payment cuts and austerity will aid rise of far right and Farage, TUC president warns Starmer
The IndependentSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer is braced for a clash with unions as his insistence on removing winter fuel payments from 10 million pensioners sparks a significant rebellion among Labour MPs. Mr Wrack admitted union activists arrive at the annual conference “feeling much more positive” about the prospects for their members since Labour’s massive election victory in July. We’ve been told to tighten our belts for far too long, and I don’t think people are willing to take any more of that.” Mr Wrack has become frustrated with the debate centered on Labour “making a choice” for above-inflation wage rises for doctors and train drivers as well as other parts of the public sector with the removal of winter fuel allowance for pensioners and the refusal to end the two-child benefit cap. So we do have disagreements with some aspects of the government’s policy and approach to this, and we don’t see a contradiction between those and raising wages for working for workers as well.” Addressing the rise of right-wing politics in the UK, including Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the general election with almost 15 per cent of the vote and the far-right riots over the summer, Mr Wrack warned that there was a “wake-up call” for unions and Labour.