53 Labour MPs Abstain On Winter Fuel Vote, Gov't Still Wins By Large Margin

Efforts by the main opposition centre-right Conservatives to block the removal of universal winter fuel payments failed, with the House of Commons voting by a margin of 348-228 to defeat the motion. Jack Elsom at The Sun reports that 53 Labour MPs abstained (or were 'paired'') on the motion, with one - MP for Normanton and Hemsworth Jon Trickett - voting against the gov't.

• Henry Zefferman at the BBC notes: "...the numbers look slightly worse for the government than most people I spoke to in Westminster this morning were anticipating. This was Sir Keir Starmer’s second controversial parliamentary vote. For the first, in July, his whips managed to turn out 363 of their MPs to support the maintenance of the two-child benefit cap. This time that number has fallen. That suggests the number of abstentions was greater."
• Nevertheless, even with a larger number of abstentions than expected the gov't still prevailed with a sizeable majority of 120 votes. As such, this would indicate that even unpopular measures that cause unease among some on the Labour backbenchers are likely to receive Commons approval. Given PM Sir Keir Starmer's pronouncements in recent weeks about 'tough decisions' to come ahead of the 30 Oct budget, this large vote buffer could prove valuable.