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Sir Keir Starmer said his government would “have to become unpopular” as he defended its decision to scrap winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners ahead of a vote on the issue on Tuesday.
The British prime minister insisted the move was necessary to shore up public finances but refused to confirm whether potential Labour rebels would be stripped of their party whip.
Backlash among Labour MPs grew up as a number of party bigwigs joined in criticising the plan to end winter fuel payments – worth £200 or £300 depending on individual circumstances – for all but the poorest pensioners. Officials have estimated it will save the Treasury £1.5bn.
Ten Labour MPs have signed a non-binding pre-trial motion calling for the measure to be delayed, arguing it has not been properly assessed for its impact.
Although new MPs are usually very docile as they seek to impress party bosses, it was newly elected Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, who won his Poole seat by just 18 votes, who proposed the motion. Two new Labour MPs signed the motion, a sign of the strength of feeling on the issue.
On Saturday, another Labour MP became the latest to announce she would not vote with the government. Rosie Duffield said she “absolutely cannot” support the move.
Despite growing calls for a policy overhaul, Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have taken a firm stand.
“We are going to have to be unpopular and difficult decisions are difficult decisions,” Starmer told BBC One. Sunday with Laura Kuensberg show.
Health Minister Wes Streeting also said on Sunday the move was necessary to “balance the budget” but expressed regret, admitting he was “not at all happy about it”.
He acknowledged ministers were in “political difficulty” over the plan but said he hoped pensioners angry about the move would understand “this is not a government that shies away from making tough decisions or pretends you can spend money you don't have”.
Speaking on Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Streeting warned that other groups would feel the impact of the “tough choices” that would be presented in Budget and a spending review on October 30. “It's not just about pensioners,” he said.
In July, Starmer took a hard line against party rebels who voted against his administration on an amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap, suspending seven Labour MPs from the parliamentary party for six months.
But he refused to confirm on Sunday whether potential rebels would suffer the same fate and be stripped of the whip if they revolted or abstained on Tuesday, insisting it was “a matter for the chief whip”.
Starmer said he made “no apologies” for making difficult decisions but stressed he recognised “how hard” some people, including pensioners, were struggling with rising living costs.
He vowed that the increase in state pensions would be achieved under his leadership government “will outweigh any reduction in winter fuel costs” because of the triple mechanism, which sees the state pension increase by a maximum of inflation, average wage growth or 2.5 per cent.
However, a growing number of senior Labour figures are calling on him to reconsider his plan.
Former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls expressed doubts about the proposal last week, suggesting the government needed an “escape route”. Meanwhile Lord David Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary, criticised the decision in a private meeting of party peers.
The cuts are opposed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, as well as a number of trade unions.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham is calling on the government to continue funding winter fuel payments by introducing a wealth tax on the top 1%, accusing Labour in a recent BBC interview of “emptying pension pockets… rather than making those with the broadest shoulders pay”.
Unite, backed by the RMT transport union, tabled a motion at the Trades Union Congress's annual meeting in Brighton this week that also calls for easing fiscal rules, more public investment spending, further tax rises and a “proactive” industrial strategy that includes more public ownership.
Meanwhile, shop workers' union Usdaw is calling on the government to remove the two-child benefit cap as part of wider welfare reforms.
TUC general secretary Paul Novak is set to strike a more supportive note, telling congress that “no government can fix 14 years of Conservative chaos overnight” but that Labour “puts working people first, something the Conservatives never did”.