Reform’s Lee Anderson complained that he wasn’t invited to sign a Labour group letter about miners’ pensions, and got owned into next year
Wednesday’s Budget wasn’t a winner with everyone, such as students who are still on the hook for the most recent and widely criticised form of loan, eco-minded voters who would have liked to see a lot more money for a push on renewables, and people from current or former mining communities.
Mining representatives have been urging a series of UK government’s to release the surplus in the Guarantor’s Fund of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme, which is more than one billion pounds. The MP for North Durham, Luke Akehurst, shared the letter he and his Labour colleagues have sent to the Chancellor.
I’ve signed a joint letter from the Coalfield Group of Labour MPs calling on the Chancellor to release the £1.2bn in the Guarantor’s Fund immediately to members of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme. https://t.co/RMyek3ZsIB
— Luke Akehurst (@lukeakehurst) October 28, 2026
Former miner, Lee Anderson of Reform UK, previously of the Conservative Party, and prior to that, a Labour councillor, wasn’t happy.
Either the part where Mr Akehurst mentioned Labour MPs escaped him, or he regressed to 2018, when he was suspended by the Labour Party for his behaviour towards the Traveller community.
He may not have spotted the problem, but everybody else did.
If only he were a sitting MP and could have organised his own Parliamentary letter – or got involved in a recent Commons debate on the subject.
Image Luke Akehurst, Screengrab