£300 Winter Fuel Payments could be SAVED after backlash

Sir Keir Starmer is set to face a test next week as MPs vote on limiting £300 Winter Fuel Payments. The plan to means-test benefit for pensioners has been criticised by opposition parties and some Labour Party backbenchers too.

MPs will get the chance to vote on secondary legislation on Tuesday that will introduce means-testing of the benefit. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has ignored calls to reverse her decision, instead focusing on getting more of the 800,000 people who qualify for Pension cCedit but do not yet claim it to sign up.

“The basic state pension is worth £900 more than it was a year ago and will go up again in April next year because of the triple lock, which we have committed to for the duration of this parliament,” she said. The Guardian reports new Labour Party government insiders said there were no plans to soften the decision.

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Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said: “With the loss of the cost-of-living payments and winter fuel payments, an increase in the energy price cap and cost of living, pensioners are frightened about how they’re going to keep warm this winter – as am I.”

Sam Rushworth, who represents Bishop Auckland, told Reeves of his constituents: “They’re not entitled to pension credit. They live in cold, stone-built houses." "What assurance can the chancellor give to those pensioners that this government will help to warm their homes and ensure that they do not struggle to heat their homes this winter?” he asked.

A government source said: “When you’re facing this kind of crisis in the public finances, you have to take the tough choices and this is a difficult choice but it’s the right one given the scale of the inheritance.

“By keeping a grip of the public finances we can protect the triple lock not just for this year or next year but for the whole parliament. We will put more money into pensioners’ pockets and ensure we’re able to protect the most vulnerable.”