‘Country first, party second’: Keir Starmer to address TUC amid Labour turmoil over winter fuel cuts

Keir Starmer will deliver the keynote address to the Trade Union Congress on Tuesday amid growing turmoil within Labour over the government’s plan to cut winter fuel payments. 

The speech will mark the first time a prime minister has addressed the congress in 15 years and stress Starmer’s commitment to a “country first, party second” creed, declaring it the guiding principle of this Labour government. 

But the speech will be delivered hours before a tense House of Commons vote on ministers’ plan to scrap the winter fuel allowance for all pensioners in England and Wales, excluding those on lower incomes who received pension credit. 

On Monday, union leaders reiterated their call for a U-turn as the TUC gathered in Brighton for the first day of its annual conference.

Speaking to the BBC on Monday, general secretary of Unite the Union Sharon Graham labelled the plan to cut winter fuel payments “completely wrong” and accused the government of “picking the pocket of pensioners”. 

Meanwhile, Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said he had “real concerns about this decision” to remove the previously universal payment from all but the poorest pensioners.

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Reports suggest few Labour MPs are expected to openly oppose the government in the commons vote, but that dozens could opt to abstain. Around 30 Labour MPs are said to be unhappy with the decision to cut winter fuel payments from 16th September.

An Early Day Motion condemning the government’s plan has accumulated the backing of 36 MPs, including 17 Labour backbenchers. 

The motion, tabled by newly-elected Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, has been signed by veteran left-wingers Diane Abbott and John McDonnell. 

McDonnell, alongside six colleagues, had the Labour whip suspended over his July decision to back an SNP amendment to the King’s Speech that called for ministers to scrap the two-child benefit cap. 

King’s Speech: how every MP voted on the SNP’s two-child benefit cap amendment

On this occasion, Starmer has said the issue of whether Labour MPs will be suspended from the party for voting against winter fuel cuts is “a matter for the chief whip”.

In his address to the TUC on Tuesday, Starmer will argue that the Conservative government “salted the earth of Britain’s future” to serve themselves, leaving an inheritance far worse than Labour had imagined.

Calling for an end to “zero-sum ways”, Starmer will champion a cooperative mode of politics, asserting that “partnership” between unions and business is key to fixing the economy. 

He will say: “I call now, as before the election, for the politics of partnership. With us in government, with business, and most importantly of all, with working people… the mood is for partnership.

“And not just on pay — on everything. To turn around our NHS, give our children the start in life they deserve, make our public services fit for the future, unlock the potential of clean energy. A new era of investment and reform. The common cause of national renewal.

“Partnership is a more difficult way of doing politics. I know there’s clarity in the old ways, the zero-sum ways: business versus worker, management versus union, public versus private. That kind of politics is not what the British people want.

“We have the chance to deliver for working people: young people, vulnerable people, the poorest in society, because we changed the Labour party. So when I say ‘country first, party second’ — that isn’t a slogan. It’s the guiding principle of everything this government will do. We ran as a changed Labour Party and we will govern as a changed Labour party.

“So I make no apologies to those, still stuck in the 1980s, who believe that unions and business can only stand at odds, leaving working people stuck in the middle.

“And when I say to the public our policies will be pro-business and pro-worker, they don’t look at me as if I’m deluded, they see it as the most ordinary, sensible thing in the world. And I know there will always be disputes, but there is a mood of change in the business world, a growing understanding of the importance of good work and the shared self-interest that comes from treating the workforce with respect and dignity. The productivity gain of fairness which is an opportunity to be grasped.”

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He will add: “I have to level with you, as I did on the steps of Downing Street just over two months ago, this will take a while. It will be hard. But just as we had to do the hard graft of change in our Party now we have to roll up our sleeves and change our country.

“When we finally saw the books, and with trust in politics so low, I had to be honest with the British people when standing in the full sunlight of democracy, I owed it to them to promise only what we knew we could deliver. And yet even in our worst fears we didn’t think it would be this bad. 

“The pollution in our rivers, the overcrowding in our prisons, so much of our crumbling public realm — universities, councils, the care system, all even worse than we expected. Millions of pounds wasted on a Rwanda scheme that they knew would never work. Politics reduced to an expensive, divisive, noisy performance, a game to be played and not the force that can fundamentally change the lives of those we represent.”

Addressing the challenges the country faces, Starmer will say: “The crisis we have inherited means we must go deep into the marrow of our institutions, rewrite the rules of our economy and fix the foundations so we can build a new home. A country where growth not only comes from the enterprise of working people, but where growth serves the interests of working people. 

“Living standards rising, not just because we are redistributing from prosperous parts of the country but because we are growing the economy in every community. That is our mission.

“Because economic rules written in the ink of partnership will be more durable and long-lasting — whoever is in power. So it is time to turn the page, business and unions, the private and public sector, united by a common cause to rebuild our public services and grow our economy in a new way. Higher growth, higher wages, higher productivity. The shared purpose of partnership as the path through the mess the Tories made, and onwards to national renewal.

“We will keep to the course of change, reject the snake oil of easy answers, fix the foundations of our economy and build a new Britain. More secure, more prosperous, more dynamic, and fairer. A country renewed and returned, calmly but with confidence, to the service of working people.”

Speaking ahead of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s speech, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “We are delighted to welcome Keir Starmer to Congress – the first Labour prime minister to address delegates in 15 years.

“The PM’s commitment to making working pay, to boosting security at work and to scrapping toxic anti-union legislation a is stark contrast to the Conservatives’ race to the bottom on employment standards.

“The task of rebuilding Britain and delivering decent jobs is an urgent national mission.

“After 14 years of Tory misrule and chaos we understand there are tough challenges ahead. But we share the PM’s ambition for a high-wage economy and stand ready to work with business and government to achieve this.”

Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on X/Twitter here.

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