Labour’s post-election honeymoon looks to be over as it faces pressure this week over winter fuel payments, releasing prisoners early, and the state of the NHS.

Two months after winning a historic majority, Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers have a busy week as they face pressure not just from other parties, but their own MPs.

A vote on winter fuel payments, the prime minister speaking at the TUC conference, prisoners being released early, the publication of a report into the NHS and Sir Keir’s trip to the US are all on the cards this week.

Monday will see Chancellor Rachel Reeves addressing Labour MPs at a Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, where she is expected to face concerns about removing the winter fuel payment from 10 million pensioners.

MPs will vote on Tuesday on whether to limit the winter fuel payment to those on pension credit, after the government announced its intention at the end of July.

Labour MPs will be told they must vote with the government, however several, particularly on the left of the party, have voiced their opposition to the cut.

It is understood they may abstain instead of voting against the government, after Sir Keir set a clear precedent by suspending seven MPs from Labour after they rebelled over the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap.

Sir Keir would not say if he would again suspend MPs for voting against the government, telling the BBC on Sunday: “That will be a matter for the chief whip.”

The prime minister will also address the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference on Tuesday, where he is set to be questioned about the winter fuel payment cut and workers’ rights.

Sharon Graham, head of the Unite union, told Sky News on Sunday that they want the government to “think again” and called for a wealth tax instead.

She said: “We are in crisis. The Tories left a mess. No one’s denying that. Labour is right about that, but the choices they make to clear it up are really important.

“If we said the top 50 families in Britain are worth £500 billion, why aren’t they being looked at?

“Why are you looking at pensioners who really don’t have any sort of type of money? That’s the wrong choice to make.”

Read more:
Starmer ‘determined to make tough decisions’
Sign ups for pension credit double

In a packed day for the government, Tuesday is also when the first tranche of prisoners will be released early under the Labour government as it tries to alleviate overpopulated prisons.

The Ministry of Justice admitted this week some serious offenders will be released early if they are serving a sentence for a lesser crime, having completed a sentence for a serious crime.

Reports on Saturday also claimed those serving time for common assault for being violent towards a partner would not be flagged as domestic abusers, so could be released early.

Sir Keir blamed the Conservative government for not building enough prisons, saying he was “forced into this”.

Thursday will see the publication of a report into the state of the NHS by Lord Darzi, an eminent cancer surgeon and former Labour health minister.

The report has already had some sections released in summary, with children’s health and the progression of heart and circulatory diseases heavily criticised.

Sir Keir said the report showed the NHS was “broken” as he again hit out at the Conservatives’ “unforgivable” reforms.

To end the week, the prime minister will head to Washington DC for his second meeting with President Joe Biden since becoming prime minister.

On Sunday, Sir Keir denied the US was angry at the UK for suspending some arms sale licences to Israel and said they had spoken before and after the decision.

He said discussions with Mr Biden will focus on the next few months in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Firebrand union leader Sharon Graham has told Sky News that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is guilty of “picking the pockets of pensioners” by cutting winter fuel payments. 

The leader of the Unite union was speaking on the opening day of the TUC conference in Brighton, where she spearheaded demands for a wealth tax on millionaires to fund restoring the winter cash for pensioners.

“Britain is in crisis, and we need to make very, very different choices,” said Ms Graham.

“We’re calling on Labour not to pick the pockets of pensioners, but to have a wealth tax on the biggest and richest 1% in society.”

She said her proposal would create £25 billion, more than enough to fill the £22 billion “black hole” blamed by the chancellor and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for the cuts.

Read more from Sky News
Health secretary ‘apologises’ for payment cuts
NHS is ‘broken’, says Starmer
PM ‘determined to make tough decisions’

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

“Job’s done, let’s move on and change society,” she added.

“We’re calling for the government to think again. This issue isn’t going to go away. We’re coming up to winter. People are going to be freezing cold.

“You’re going to have older people not wanting to put on their heat.”

14 years of ‘queueing for a pay rise’

On unions’ calls for pay to be restored to 2010 levels, Ms Graham said: “Workers and communities have been back of the queue for over 14 years. They’ve been right at the back of the queue. They’ve had pay freezes.

“They haven’t had pay rises in line with inflation. And the inflation is baked in. So while inflation is going up more slowly, those prices are still baked in.

“And what we’re saying, as the union movement, is that workers need to be paid properly and that is something that we should be proud of.

“We should be proud to say that workers should be paid properly. And that’s what I’m pushing for.”

The health secretary has said NHS waiting lists need to be “millions lower” by the next general election in 2029.

Wes Streeting told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure waiting lists are brought down, including using the private sector.

He said the “NHS waiting list will need to be millions lower by the end of this parliament”.

Mr Streeting said he wants to end the “two-tier system” where those who can afford it go private “and those who can’t are being left behind”.

However, he said where there is spare capacity in the private sector the NHS should use that to get waiting lists down.

“Rebuilding that [the NHS] takes time,” he said.

“So in the meantime, I’m looking to pull every single lever I can to make sure that people get treated as fast as possible and as safely as possible.

“And you can get those waiting lists down, get people back to health, back to work, or back to enjoying their lives in retirement.”

Mr Streeting said his centre-left principles mean he cannot leave “working class people waiting longer even where there is spare capacity in the private sector that we could use via the NHS to get those people treated faster”.

Questioned on whether GPs will get the 11% pay rise they are asking for, after Labour gave other public sector workers their requested increases, Mr Streeting would not confirm they will.

Instead, he said he has been in negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) GP committee and met them “many times” since becoming health secretary.

However, he said said he did want to “set expectations in the wrong places” as he cited cutting the winter fuel allowance for pensioners not claiming pension credit.

“There are difficult balances to strike in the public finances,” he said.

An investigation into the state of the NHS, ordered by the government in July, has been undertaken by Lord Darzi, an eminent surgeon and former Labour health minister, and will be published on Thursday.

Sir Keir Starmer said the review shows the NHS is “broken” and is expected to reveal that “too many” people are being let down by the NHS.

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins said she was concerned by Lord Darzi’s links to the Labour party as she said the NHS situation in Wales, which has been under Labour control for more than 100 years, is “lamentable”.

“This report, I fear, is cover for the Labour Party to raise our taxes in the budget in October and they are laying the groundwork for this,” she said.

“They weren’t straight with us about wind fuel payments. They’re not being straight with us about taxes. And we need to have a grown up conversation about the NHS, but this is not the way to go about it.”