- Conference
- 2025 National Retired Members Conference
- Date
- 13 June 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that the removal of Winter Fuel Allowance for the vast majority of 10 million pensioners has had many of the detrimental impacts predicted by UNISON and campaigns supporting pensioners’ rights.
It has also proved to be a gift from Keir Starmer’s government to Nigel Farage and Reform UK who have been able to falsely pose as the friend of pensioners, helping to boost their popularity at May’s local authority elections and in multiple by-elections.
Conference notes that Prime Minister Starmer has signalled a partial retreat from the policy, with details finally emerging in the Autumn budget due this October. It appears clear, however, that he intends to continue with the removal of Winter Fuel Allowance as a universal benefit. Conference reiterates our belief that certain universal benefits, such as the State Retirement Pension, are cornerstones of the concept of the welfare state.
Conference continues to reject the narrative of “hard choices” while this government makes choices to attack benefits for many of the most vulnerable whilst failing to impose higher taxes on the wealth of the super-rich, whose wealth has continued to grow disproportionately whilst living standards for the majority have stagnated or fallen in real terms. Conference further notes that many pensioners are also facing a growing tax burden due to the failure of tax thresholds to be increased in line with inflation.
Conference calls on the National Retired Members Committee to continue to work with the NEC to demand the reinstatement of the Winter Fuel Allowance in full, and to continue working with appropriate campaigns supported by UNISON, including protests and lobbies, in the run-up to the Autumn budget and, if necessary, beyond to build pressure on the Government to achieve this goal.