The Labour Party in Blackpool: Unions defy executive

Several unions defied the national executive yesterday as a recommendation to shelve a controversial proposal to help families on the poverty line came close to defeat.

The motion called for child benefit to be disregarded when calculating income support, effectively treating the families in the same way as others who receive the universal benefit, regardless of their earnings or income. It also urged that families on income support should retain half of any maintenance payments before benefit was cut.

The 2,746,000 to 2,565,000 card vote, the first of the conference, shows that several unions used the block vote in favour of the change, despite a recommendation from the executive that it should be referred back.