ON Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer will put their cut to the Winter Fuel Payment to a vote.
MPs will be asked to back the Labour leadership’s decision to end the universal payment, stripping £100-£300 from some 10 million pensioners across the UK.
Instead, Labour will be looking to make the payment means-tested in a bid to save money amid swingeing cuts they claim are needed because of the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement.
Here is what you need to know about the vote.
When will MPs vote on the Winter Fuel Payment?
Although exact timings are unclear, MPs are likely to vote on whether to cut the Winter Fuel Payment in the early afternoon on Tuesday, September 10.
The Westminster order paper, published online, says that the debate and vote on the payment will not take place until after oral and topical questions are put to the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
Mahmood is expected to be quizzed for around an hour from 11.30am, meaning the Winter Fuel Payment debate and vote will take place from around 12.30pm.
Update: The Winter Fuel Payment debate was delayed due to a ministerial statement on Ukraine, and began at 1.30pm.
Where can I watch the debate and vote on the Winter Fuel Payment?
Live proceedings in the Westminster parliament can be viewed in one of two ways.
Firstly, you will be able to find a live feed from the House of Commons online at parliamentlive.tv/Commons.
For people with a TV licence, live proceedings from the House of Commons will also be broadcast on the BBC Parliament channel, which you can find on the broadcaster’s iPlayer service.
Rolling news channels, such as BBC News and Sky News, may also show some of the debate and report on the vote as it happens. However, their scheduling is not confirmed.
What is the likely result of the vote on the Winter Fuel Payment?
It is all but guaranteed that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will get their way and the Winter Fuel Payment will be cut for millions of pensioners.
Labour have a commanding majority in the Commons, meaning anything other than a disastrous rebellion would be easily absorbed.
And Reeves held a meeting with MPs on Monday evening where she pleaded with them not to vote against her cuts, giving a speech which Westminster journalists reported went down well within the party.
Reports say that all 37 of Scottish Labour’s MPs will support the cut, which their nominal leader Anas Sarwar has repeatedly backed in stronger terms than even the Chancellor herself.
However, some MPs may rebel, with previous reports saying up to 50 may abstain or be conspicuous in their absence from the Commons.
After a handful of Labour MPs voted against keeping the two-child limit in place in July, Starmer suspended them all from his party. A similarly strong reaction may be on the cards for any rebels on Tuesday.
