Conservatives walk out of Stoke-on-Trent council meeting over winter fuel

Conservative councilor Dan Jellyman accused Labor of failing to support the city’s pensioners.

LDRS A man with short brown hair, wearing a dark jacket and blue shirt, standing next to a road. — Conservative councilor Dan Jellyman accused Labor of failing to support the city’s pensioners.

Conservative councilors stormed out of a meeting in Stoke-on-Trent after a debate over winter fuel payments.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Conservative group walked out of Thursday’s meeting after the ruling Labor group amended a motion they tabled.

Councilor Dan Jellyman, leader of the Conservative group, said Labor would not support city pensioners who would lose their winter fuel subsidy under the government’s changes to the scheme.

Labor councilors accused the Conservatives of hypocrisy for supporting social reforms during the previous government.

The motion proposed condemning the Labor government’s decision to scrap winter fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioners.

According to the Conservatives, it would affect more than 47,000 residents in Stoke-on-Trent.

But the council’s ruling Labor group amended the motion, softening its language and calling for the policy to be reviewed rather than scrapped.

After Labor councilors decided to end debate and hold a vote, the entire Conservative caucus left the council chamber in protest.

Labor Councilor Daniela Santoro called the motion’s language “unnecessarily harsh”

LDRS A woman with long dark hair and wearing a white blouse and dark jacket looks directly into the camera. — Labor Councilor Daniela Santoro called the motion’s language “unnecessarily harsh”

Jellyman said: “What we have seen today is an opposing Labor Party that will not support 47,761 pensioners in this city, to send a clear message to their government that the act of withdrawing winter fuel payments must be condemned.”

He accused the Labor Party of “shutting down debate” and described it as a move “that would embarrass even Kim Jong Un in North Korea.”

Councilor Daniela Santoro, who proposed Labour’s amendment, said that while previous universal payments were unfair and inefficient, she thought the new criteria were too strict.

“These people, although they are not entitled to additional benefits, continue to fight against the increase in the cost of living. For them, the loss of paying for fuel in winter,” he said.

But he described the language of the original Conservative motion as “unnecessarily harsh”.

Labor councilor Duncan Walker described the previous government’s welfare reform as a “disgrace” and said he would “not tolerate hypocrisy” from the local Conservative group.

This news was collected by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.