Opposition day: Winter Fuel Payment
214Ayes
335Noes
Defeated · majority 121 · Government won97 did not vote
646 Members · Aye 214 · No 335 · DNV 97 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on 10 September 2024 on an opposition motion calling on the government to reverse its decision to restrict the Winter Fuel Payment to pensioners who receive Pension Credit. The motion was defeated by 335 votes to 214. The payment, previously universal for pensioners, had been cut by the Labour government shortly after it took office, removing it from millions of pensioners who do not qualify for Pension Credit. The vote matters because it tested whether a Commons majority existed to block one of the new government's first significant welfare decisions. The cut affects pensioners who are not poor enough to claim Pension Credit but are not wealthy either, a large group estimated to include millions of households. Retaining the universal payment would have maintained a benefit that many older people rely on to meet heating costs through winter. The government argued that fiscal constraints made universal provision unaffordable at present. Every Labour and Labour and Co-operative MP who voted backed the government, giving it a comfortable majority. All 108 voting Conservatives, all 69 Liberal Democrats, all 9 SNP MPs, and all 4 Greens, 4 Plaid Cymru, 5 Reform UK, and 5 DUP members voted for the motion. Six independents also voted aye, while four independents voted with the government. There were no Labour rebels. The result illustrates how the government's large parliamentary majority insulated it from a cross-party opposition that was otherwise nearly unanimous in opposing the cut.
Voting Aye meant
Support retaining the Winter Fuel Payment as a universal benefit for pensioners, opposing Labour's decision to restrict it to those on Pension Credit
Voting No meant
Back the government's decision to means-test the Winter Fuel Payment, arguing fiscal constraints make universal provision unaffordable
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped No
0
295
66
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
108
0
8
Liberal Democrats
Whipped Aye
68
0
3
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped No
0
38
4
Independent
—
7
4
3
Scottish National Party
Whipped Aye
9
0
0
Reform UK
Whipped Aye
5
0
2
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
5
0
0
Green Party of England and Wales
Whipped Aye
4
0
0
Plaid Cymru
Whipped Aye
4
0
0
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
0
2
Your Party
—
1
0
1
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
1
0
0
Restore Britain
—
1
0
0
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
1
0
0
Ulster Unionist Party
—
1
0
0
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
Broadly welcomes the Bill as temporary emergency action but supports amendments 7, 8, 9 and 6 to strengthen environmental liability assessment, parliamentary scrutiny of financial assistance, and explicit consideration of tariffs and carbon border adjustments in valuations.Liberal Democrats · Voted aye · Read full speech (4,303 words) →
Welcomes government investment in steel as essential to national security and defence capability; emphasises need for careful management of tariff regime to avoid harming downstream manufacturers and steel stockholders.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (3,547 words) →
Opposes open-ended powers and unlimited financial exposure; supports amendments capping assistance at £1m per employee over five years, requiring quarterly parliamentary reporting, limiting total assistance to £2.5bn, and establishing a duty to seek private sector purchasers.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (4,684 words) →
Opposes new clause 9 (private purchaser duty) and new clause 11 (level playing field requirement) as risks to downstream steel-dependent industries; seeks exemptions or transitional arrangements for grades not domestically produced.Labour · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (1,486 words) →
Supports government intervention but warns that amendments risk procedural barriers and impediments to defence supply-chain security; emphasises need for integrated steelmaking strategy from ore through production.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (648 words) →
Defends blast furnace capability at Scunthorpe as strategically vital; questions whether NAO auditors should make sovereign capability decisions and warns that constant availability for sale destabilises business and workforce.Reform UK · Voted aye · Read full speech (757 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0