Dundee pensioners face a ‘bleak winter’ due to Labour’s winter fuel cuts, warns trade union boss

Struggling pensioners living in Dundee face a “bleak winter” due to Labour’s controversial cuts to the winter fuel payment, a leading trade union boss has warned.

Derek Thomson, Scottish secretary for Unite the Union, said the UK Government’s decision to means-test the benefit “boggles the mind”.

He claimed Labour had “failed” voters who backed Sir Keir Starmer at the election, and wants the SNP to step in and mitigate the cut to help OAPs.

It came as Unite members met for their Scottish policy conference – held every two years – at Dundee’s Caird Hall.

Mr Thomson told The Courier: “The government is taking away a safety net that allows people to heat their homes.

“It will be a bleak winter for a lot of people in Dundee.

“It’s incredibly frustrating. To withdraw the winter fuel payment is one of the biggest disgraces I’ve ever seen.

“To remove that support boggles the mind.”

Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the move is necessary to plug £22 billion black hole in the country’s finances.

The prime minister defended the policy in his speech at Labour’s party conference, saying “every pensioner will be better off with Labour”.

The Scottish Government has said it has “no alternative” but to mirror the changes.

Supporters of the winter fuel cuts say there are plenty of wealthy pensioners who do not need the benefit.

‘We’re not talking about millionaires’

Should a well-off couple in Broughty Ferry, for example, be entitled to the payment?

Mr Thomson thinks all pensioners should get it.

“We’re not talking about millionaires,” he told The Courier. “We believe it should be universal.

“I don’t accept that means testing should be brought in. Most people who utilise it are on a small income.”

Unite’s anger is so extreme that the trade union revoked invitations for First Minister John Swinney and Labour leader Anas Sarwar to speak at the conference.

Another dominant topic at the Caird Hall event has been concerns over the planned closure of Grangemouth oil refinery.

The plant will close in 2025, costing up to 400 jobs.

Mr Thomson said Unite has members in Dundee and Fife who have shared their fears over the refinery’s demise.

He said: “There is a real anger from everybody, all over Scotland.”

The trade unionist warned more voters in Scotland will abandon the SNP and Tories for Reform UK unless given hope.

Nigel Farage’s party picked up hundreds of votes in two Perthshire by-elections on Thursday.

It also outperformed the Tories in Dundee and Fife seats at the general election in July.

“We’ve got the 2026 elections coming up – the continuation of these attacks on working-class people will only turn voters to Reform,” Mr Thomson said.