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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

An expected rebellion against Sir Keir Starmer’s plans to withdraw winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners has fizzled out, with just one Labour MP voting against the government.

The prime minister stared down his backbenchers over the controversial move to means test the payment, staving off a wider revolt.

In the end, only veteran left-winger and Jeremy Corbyn ally Jon Trickett voted against Labour on the measure, with the MP expected to be disciplined by the whips.

Keir Starmer faced the biggest rebellion of his time as prime minister (PA Wire)

A further 53 Labour members did not vote in favour of the change, but the vast majority of those had permission to be off. It is understood that only 12 of the Labour MPs who did not vote with the government on Tuesday did not have authorisation to miss the vote.

In the vote on the measure forced by the Conservatives, 228 MPs voted against the government while 348 backed the change. It will see the payment, worth up to £300, stripped from around 10 million people.

The move had faced fierce opposition from across the Labour party, but after Sir Keir suspended seven left-wingers for rebelling on a vote over the two-child benefit cap, Labour MPs were reluctant to rebel.

Addressing his decision to vote against the government, Mr Trickett said he had worked behind the scenes to urge a change in course, but it was “to no avail”. “I could not in good conscience vote to make my constituents poorer, I will sleep well knowing that I voted to defend my constituents,” he added.

He said the change could prove “a matter of life or death” and would force “many more pensioners into poverty this winter”. It is not yet known whether Mr Trickett will have the Labour whip suspended

Instead, dozens of Labour MPs abstained, including senior figures such as Diane Abbott.

Corbyn-ally Jon Trickett was the only Labour MP to vote against the government

Also voting against the government were five of the seven ex-Labour MPs suspended in July over their opposition to the two-child benefit cap: Richard Burgon, Apsana Begum, Ian Byrne, John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana. A total of 53 Labour MPs did not vote in favour of the change, though some will have been given permission to be absent from the commons.

Rachel Reeves said the move to means-test winter fuel payments was essential after the Conservatives left a £22bn black hole in the public finances. The move is expected to save the Treasury £1.5bn this year.

But Lib Dem work and pensions spokesperson Wendy Chamberlain said the vote will leave millions of pensioners worrying about how they will get through the winter.

“The damage left by the Conservatives to our economy is unforgivable but cutting payments to vulnerable pensioners is no way to bring about the change the country deserves,” she said.

Rachel Reeves said the cut was necessary to restore the public finances (PA Wire)

And Green MP Sian Berry said the “reckless” plan “amounts to an unjustified and cruel assault on pensioners’ finances, mental and physical health”.

She added: “Whilst the lack of more substantial opposition from Labour MPs is a disappointing signal that most will answer only to the Labour whips – and not to their constituents or their conscience.”

And Age UK, which had campaigned fervently against the change, said it was “deeply disappointed, but not surprised” by the vote.

“Age UK’s critique of their policy is really simple: we just don’t think it’s fair to remove the payment from the 2.5 million pensioners on low incomes who badly need it, and to do it so quickly this winter, at the same time as energy bills are rising by 10 per cent,” director Caroline Abrahams said.

Tory chairman Richard Fuller also condemned the move, claiming Labour cut the payment “in order to pay for inflation-busting pay rises for their trade union paymasters”.

“The country should not forget that Labour made a political choice to make this callous decision that will hurt pensioners just as their energy bills are set to increase this winter,” he added.

The Conservative Party had proposed means testing the payment in its 2017 manifesto, a plan which Labour said at the time could kill 4,000 people.

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