Constituents back rebel MP over winter fuel stance

On an unseasonably chilly and drizzly September day in the West Yorkshire town of Hemsworth, shoppers under hooded raincoats amble to and from a Tesco superstore - one of the town's biggest employers.

The MP for this ex-mining area, located almost exactly halfway between Wakefield and Doncaster, and home to fans of nearby Barnsley FC, is Labour's Jon Trickett - who has held the seat since 1996.

He is the only Labour MP to vote against the government on Tuesday over removing the winter fuel allowance from 10 million pensioners in England and Wales.

The allowance was previously available to all pensioners regardless of income and was worth about £200-300 to those receiving it.

A number of other Yorkshire Labour MPs did not vote on the cut, which is expected to save about £1.3bn in 2024-25 and £1.5bn in the following years, while Leeds East MP Richard Burgon, who had the Labour whip removed for previously rebelling on the two-child benefit cap, voted against the move.

While the government went on to win the vote, Trickett wrote later on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the cut risked pushing more elderly people into poverty, adding that the consequences could be "devastating".

Speaking to people in the town on Wednesday, many tell the BBC they are supportive of Trickett's stance on the vote.

"Disgusting" is the one-word reaction of several people when asked what they think about the government's actions over the winter fuel allowance.

"How are we going to cope without it?" Linda Lockwood asks.

"I've been working class all my life and worked on minimum wage and it was a big help in winter. But now they're going to stop it."

Linda's friend, 65-year-old Anne Smith, says she is concerned about whether or not she will qualify for the allowance when she stops work next year.

"I'm 31 weeks off retirement," Anne explains.

"I'm on a small threshold finance-wise, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get pension credit. That's something we're going to have look at.

"But I think it's absolutely appalling what they've done."

That is a view shared by Richard Peat, 46, who says: "Old people in general don't have much coming in and they're getting the heating allowance cut when they need it the most.

"It's shocking. It's wrong and old people will suffer.

"I would support Jon Trickett, but Keir Starmer just has no idea. He's not in touch at all with real life."

Richard also cites the costs of accommodating asylum seekers in hotels as an example of government spending remaining high elsewhere while the winter fuel allowance becomes means-tested for the first time ever.

Several other people in Hemsworth make the same argument, suggesting they believe the government has got its financial priorities wrong.

Lisa Froggett, 37, says: "It's disgusting that pensioners are going to go without, but there are people coming into this country getting everything for free.

"My father-in-law is likely to be affected. He's panicking already about it. But what can you do? It's scary for them."

Meanwhile, Carl Norbury, sitting on a wall with his Yorkshire terrier, Pippa, praises Trickett for voting against the government.

"He is a good MP, Jon Trickett. I've followed him for years and I'm Labour as well.

"It's not good that they're cutting it."

However, Carl's friend, Darren, 51, offers a different perspective.

He cites the view of Dragon's Den star Deborah Meaden, who said earlier this week that she and "lots of other people" should not receive the payment and that it should be means-tested.

"If you're entitled to it, surely you're not going to go without," Darren says.

He says he blames the Conservatives for "running the country into the ground" and privatising the energy industry in the 1980s.

"The world of private energy companies is a world of power and profit and greed. Who privatised it? The Tories."

Hemsworth and the surrounding area has struggled economically since the decline of the UK mining industry.

The pit in the village of Fitzwilliam, a mile-and-a-half to the north of Hemsworth town centre and part of the wider constituency, closed in 1986.

Office for National Statistics figures from 2021 showed the area was among the UK's most income-deprived communities.

One 95-year-old man walking past the local dog track at Kinsley, which is part of Fitzwilliam, appears to have mixed feelings about the winter fuel payment.

"Fortunately, I'm all right, but there's a lot of people who won't be," he says.

For another Fitzwilliam pensioner, though, the issue has upset her enough to say she will break the habit of a lifetime by not voting for Labour again.

Mrs Byron, who does not want to give her first name, says: "I think things like the winter fuel allowance and the TV licence should be universal."

The 81-year-old, whose late husband worked as a pit electrician, adds: "I thought Labour were for working people."

She concludes by saying - with tongue slightly in cheek - that she will "vote for the Monster Raving Loony Party next time if I have to".

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