Arguably the most difficult speech of the whole of Labour conference came from Liz Kendall. The Work and Pensions secretary not only had the winter fuel payment cut to deal with, she is also responsible for welfare reform to get people off sickness benefits – one of the most fraught areas of policymaking – and will oversee what are likely to be cuts to benefits enforced by the Treasury in the next few months. Kendall’s aim was to argue to Labour members that the party is still staying true to its principles while doing all of this.
Kendall’s aim was to argue to Labour members that the party is still staying true to its principles
She did not get a joyful cheer when she promised ‘the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation.’ Nor was there an outpouring of delight in the hall when she went on to promise ‘new plans to join up support for work, health and skills so we tackle the root causes of worklessness.’ Kendall kept going, flattering the party’s directly elected mayors as ‘brilliant’ and the right people to tackle the root causes of worklessness.
Then she addressed the winter fuel payment directly, saying ‘focusing winter fuel payments on the poorest pensioners wasn’t a decision we wanted or expected to make.’ She argued that it was necessary due to the Tory black hole and that ‘we know what happened when Liz Truss played fast and loose with the public finances: it was working people and pensioners on fixed incomes who paid the highest price.’
She insisted that this government had done more to help pensioners than the Tories ever did, then moved to a peroration on the ‘difference a Labour government makes’. This was all very well and good. But with nothing more to announce yet, it has been difficult for the party to move on from the winter fuel payment argument.
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