Winter fuel payment U-turn? Keir Starmer hints at change after pensioner benefit was cut in the autumn

Sir Keir Starmer said at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons that the government wants to make more pensioners eligible for winter fuel payments. The decision in the autumn to turn the former universal benefit for pensioners into a means-tested one has seen the government come under intense pressure, from both campaigners and Labour MPs.

Media reports had suggested ministers could remove the two-child benefit cap or reconsider their decision to means-test the winter fuel payment for pensioners to placate rebellious Labour MPs.

Finding a mechanism to widen eligibility for the payment will cause headaches in Whitehall, because officials fear that simply increasing the pension credit threshold to which access is linked would also increase take-up of that benefit, wiping out any potential savings.

Sir Keir said the Government had needed to “stabilise the economy with tough decisions” after taking over from the Tories, but that it was now starting to improve.

He said he understood the financial pressures on pensioners, speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions.

“I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners,” he told the Commons.

“As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that, as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.

He said the Government will “only make decisions we can afford” and will therefore look at this as part of a fiscal event.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch challenged him over the “U-turn”, calling him “desperate”.

Asked if he was planning a U-turn, the Prime Minister said: “As the economy improves, we want to take measures that will impact on people’s lives, and therefore we will look at the threshold, but that will have to be part of a fiscal event.”

Mrs Badenoch said: “I wonder how the public feel about a man can’t give a straight answer to a simple question, and you look at all of them behind him, all of them cheering: when this inevitable U-turn on winter fuel comes – and it will, from a desperate Prime Minister – what will he say to the 348 MPs who went over the top and voted for the winter fuel cut last September? Just like the British public, how can any of them ever trust him again?”

Veteran Labour left-winger Diane Abbott earlier told ITV’s Good Morning Britain the policy was like the poll tax in the way it had “cut through” to voters.

She said: “One of the things that struck me, colleagues that went to campaign in Runcorn, that was the issue that was raised on every doorstep. Some things cut through, remember Mrs Thatcher and the poll tax … I think the winter fuel is like that because everybody knows an old person.”

Asked if she thought Sir Keir would still be Prime Minister at the time of the next election, she said “I hope so” but “there are other people”, singling out Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.

A memo leaked to the Daily Telegraph suggests Ms Rayner pushed for a radical combination of tax hikes to avoid the need for further cuts in spending.

She suggested reinstating the pensions lifetime allowance and changing dividend taxes in a memo to the Chancellor ahead of March’s spring statement, with ideas to raise revenue.

Sir Keir defended his deputy during PMQs after Mrs Badenoch said his Cabinet was “open warfare” with Ms Rayner “clearly calling the shots”.

He said: “She wants to talk about the Deputy Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister’s working with the Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) building 1.5 million new homes, reforming our planning system, putting £7 billion into our economy and bringing forward an Employment Rights Bill, which is the single biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Week after week at PMQs, Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives have pressed the Prime Minister to U-turn on his cruel winter fuel payments cut. And week after week, Keir Starmer defended the policy.

“It’s taken the threat of his MPs losing their jobs, and his Cabinet descending into open warfare over which taxes to raise, for the Prime Minister to finally recognise the hardship his winter fuel policy has caused.

“Pensioners already suffering under this government’s spiralling inflation will want to see the detail of this latest screeching U-turn as soon as possible.”