On Thursday of last week, Suffolk County councillors had the opportunity to stand united against the Labour government’s cuts to Winter Fuel Payments.

These cruel and unnecessary cuts will see the support currently received by more than 177,000 Suffolk residents placed in doubt.

Just yesterday it was reported that, nationally, 84% of disabled pensioners will lose their Winter Fuel Payments. 

Therefore when my colleague, councillor Joe Mason, and I proposed a motion opposing these devastating cuts at Thursday’s full council meeting, we didn’t expect petty politics.

How disappointed we were.

Not a single Labour councillor - and there were six present - bothered to speak during the debate, in fact one spent most of it staring into his phone!

All six then went on to vote against our motion.

Perhaps even more disappointing was the behaviour of Green Party councillors.

We had hoped they would stand with us and Suffolk’s pensioners and oppose Labour’s cuts but, as is becoming the norm when we propose a motion, they chose to wriggle and obfuscate and find excuses not to vote with us Conservatives.

One complained the motion was too long, while another wanted to add to it.

No motion is ever perfectly written but the Green Party had an opportunity to send a united message to the new Labour government that their attack on Suffolk pensioners is unacceptable.

The Greens declined that opportunity, with all their councillors either voting against or abstaining.

Perhaps it was that our motion went further that they didn’t like.

We also came to the defence of the Suffolk motorist, asking that the council agree to write to the Labour Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and ask her to rule out hiking fuel duty in the upcoming budget on October 30.

We know that the Green Party is no fan of the motorist, in Cambridgeshire they openly say “driving should be discouraged” and support a Workplace Parking Levy - meaning businesses are penalised just for letting you park at your workplace!

In the Babergh district, the Greens are part of the administration that has withdrawn free parking across Sudbury, Hadleigh and Lavenham. So, they have form.

But this was a simple motion that would protect our care workers who use private cars to visit Suffolk’s elderly residents, our brilliant farmers who put food on our tables, our haulage industry who have warned a 5p hike in fuel duty could cost the economy over £400 million a year, and residents across Suffolk who rely on their private cars to shop and visit loved ones.

Again, by siding with Labour, the Greens chose ideology over the people of Suffolk.

The final part of our motion got to the nub of the issue.

In Suffolk we have a huge number of properties off the gas grid and many of these properties are old, listed and reliant on oil for their heating.

Of course, we need to find ways to reduce energy bills and make homes more efficient but this can’t be a one size fits all approach.

Therefore, we resolved that any approach to making our country’s housing stock more efficient should not make heat pumps the first and only alternative.

Heat pumps can work in new builds and many newer properties but they are not suitable, without huge expense, for many older properties.

The majority of people change their boiler when the old one breaks and can’t be repaired.

In such a scenario, it can’t reasonably be expected that a homeowner reinsulate their home, change their windows and install oversized radiators – all at vast expense – just to make a heat pump viable.

We need to look at alternatives to heat pumps, that work for rural communities and older houses.

Suffolk’s Green councillors didn’t support this either and we know why. 

Imposing their ideology is at the heart of everything the Green Party does.

On Mid Suffolk District Council, my Conservative colleagues and I voted against their decision to move from emptying black bins every two weeks to every three weeks.

This was an unnecessary move, driven by their Green dogma.

We’ve seen in the west of the county that it’s perfectly possible to retain two weekly black bin collections and comply with new waste reforms. But the Greens think they know better.

In failing to support our motion, the Green and Labour councillors clearly demonstrated it is only the Conservatives who stand with Suffolk and our ageing population.

When the Halloween budget comes, and I fear it will be far more trick than treat for Suffolk, us Conservatives can look pensioners and motorists in the eye knowing we are on their side.

Labour and the Greens cannot do the same. 

Matthew Hicks is Conservative leader of Suffolk County Council