The Winter Fuel Payment Heats Up the Political Debate

Answering a reader's question about three-line whips and parliamentary procedures. It's time to take The Sniff Test.

The Victory of the Left

While the right was in power for much of the last 100 years in Europe, the left won the ideological argument. Parties of the right shuffled policies leftwards, while opposition ideologues pulled the Overton Window in their direction.

The reality of government has often been hard for Labour to square with the freedom of opposition. This is illustrated by the kerfuffle over the winter fuel payment.

Last week’s readers’ vote showed a slight preference for the shorter version of The Sniff Test. Do continue to reply and let me know your feedback. One suggestion was an explanation of the role of the whips in UK parliament, which was triggered by reporting of the winter fuel debate.

A Working Majority

There was no Labour rebellion over the winter fuel subsidy. More Labour MPs voted against the government over its decision not to extend child support beyond two children. Even that was a mere rumbling on the fringes that comes with the territory after big election wins. The majority is large enough to allow dissent from within the ruling party.

The issue for Labour is that its diehards will never vote for a reduction in state spending. Any increase in regulation and government involvement in the economy is appropriate. The leadership has to balance these demands with the reality that the country does not support the ideological stance of Labour’s 367 thousand members.

Labour has a working majority of 167. The decision to scrap the winter fuel payment for most pensioners passed with a 120 majority. 52 Labour MPs did not vote and one voted against.

The reader’s question was how a majority of 167 falls by only 47, when there were a greater number of absentees and a defector. The answer lies in the role of parliamentary whips and the operations of the usual channels.

The Usual Channels

The Leader of the House and the government Whips run the business of parliament. They set the legislative agenda, corral votes and tally the divisions. These occur when a shouted vote is inconclusive and members file out through the Aye or No lobbies.

The whip is a written instruction to MPs on how they are expected to vote. Each item is underlined to indicate its importance. One line means attendance is requested, two that it is necessary and three that it is essential. It is a career limiting move to defy a three-line whip.

The occasional free vote is allowed on matters of conscious. Fox hunting is a famous example. Otherwise the parties’ whips rally the troops for the debate and divisions, and operate the pairing system.

An MP should seek permission from the whips to be absent from a vote. The whips of each party communicate to pair absentees and ensure that missing a division does not alter a result. A few Labour members were likely paired with opposition MPs for the fuel payment vote, which is why their absence did not reduce the government's majority.

The communication between the whips of the parties is known as the usual channels. As well as instructing MPs on votes, whips convey feedback to government and advise on parliamentary procedures. A spell in the whips office is seen as a fast track to promotion because it is a crash course in how parliament works.

As this is the UK parliament, the whips are not without tradition and peculiarities. The name derives from whipper-in, a huntsman’s assistant who kept the hounds in line. This usage originates in the early 18th century, while the position was formalised a hundred years later.

There are at least six Lords of the Treasury. The first is Prime Minister and the second the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is the only one who works in HM Treasury. The others are members of the government whips office, which numbers 26 across the Houses of Commons and Lords.

One Lord of the Treasury is designated Vice-Chamberlain and provides a daily summary of parliamentary business and gossip to the monarch. They are also held hostage at Buckingham Palace during the State Opening of Parliament, to ensure the monarch’s safe return.

The whips advise on appointments to government and assign roles within the parliamentary estate. Voting the party line is a path to advancement, whereas defiance may lead to being given unpopular roles. The whips also determine when parliament sits and who may be absent, and it’s in the general interests of MPs to play along.

In extreme cases of defiance, such as three-line whips that are also unofficial votes of confidence, the whip may be withdrawn. In effect, members become independent and may struggle to know the day-to-day agenda without a briefing document. While the whip may be restored after a period of purgatory, repeated defiance leads to being expelled from the party and de-selected at the next election.

Whips have less control in the House of Lords where, for instance, there is no pairing system and defeats for the government are more common. Defeated bills are returned to the Commons where they may still pass. As a result, the Lords plays an advisory role in government acting as the public conscience.

Whips in the Lords do act as party spokespeople, which does not happen in the Commons. Here by precedent, whips influence but play no part in parliamentary procedures.

Europe’s Energy Challenge

The winter fuel payment attracted a lot of media attention and gave birth to some of the most amusing social media memes I’ve seen for a while. Whether it is the start of growing discontent with Starmer’s government may depend on how cold the upcoming winter turns out.

The subsidy of up to £300 is withdrawn from 10 million pensioners. The 1.5 million or so who claim pension credit and other means-tested benefits will continue to be paid. The idea is not to punish those in poverty and with an annual saving averaging £140 per person, the measure is not expected to plunge others into poverty, as extreme voices have claimed.

The decision looks poorly timed, however, coming as backdated pay increases are agreed with train drivers and junior doctors. Both of these moves are to end rolling strike action and reflect that those in work exercise more power than pensioners, who have just enjoyed their five-yearly vote.

Opportunistic government opponents point out that MPs’ utility bills are paid in both their parliamentary offices and second homes. An MP receives expenses to maintain either a constituency home or a London residence, depending on where they were elected.

Stories are circulating that this subsidy is worth £3,500. In fact, while there is no limit on the amount, the payment is usually much less. That figure is an extreme case of an MP’s domestic bill spiking in the aftermath of the pandemic. As they were unable to negotiate a reduction with the energy supplier, the MP moved house.

Herein lies the issue for the government. The UK has limited supplies of fuel to generate energy. The last coal plant will be switched off on September 30, meaning the UK is the first G7 nation to abandon coal-fired plants. The UK imports a little over a third of fuel requirements, which is below the European average of over a half.

UK Energy Net Imports (source: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The chart shows the UK’s dependency on energy imports, around half of which are oil and petroleum products. From the early 1980s to the middle of the first decade of this century, North Sea oil and gas production meant the UK was a net exporter. As the fields depleted, the country is once more reliant on imports to power its economy, heat its homes and drive its cars.

The more recent reduction in import dependency is a result of sustainable sources, mostly wind power. Green generating capacity is imported, as is much of the storage technology that keeps the lights on when conditions are becalmed. This is a major issue across Europe, given the lead that China and to a lesser degree the US are establishing in clean tech.

In a cold snap, restricted supply of fuel will see energy bills soar. It is this rather than the lack of a subsidy that might lead people to forgo heating homes. Rest assured that commentators will be hunting out any examples of pensioners freezing to death, to blame on the lack of fuel payment.

The Novelty of Power

Labour is an ideological movement while the Conservatives are a party of power. The roles are reversed for now.

Starmer has a tough task managing both the government finances and the demands of his party’s members. The winter fuel payment debate and the strike settlements show how opposition from outside parliament may come to influence those inside to defy the government.

It is then that the power of the whips to hold the line will be tested and we’ll discover how long the novelty of power holds Labour’s factions together.