Rachel Reeves cut her own mother’s winter fuel payment and has said she is sticking by the decision.
The Chancellor admitted both her parents saw the payments stopped after Ms Reeves shocked the nation by announcing the winter fuel payment would be means tested.
That cruell decision meant about nine million pensioners lost out on the lump sum of £200 for those under 80 and £300 for the over 80s paid in November and December.
Asked if means-testing the payment meant her own mum and dad no longer qualified, Ms Reeves said yes.
She told Mail Online: “I don’t think it’s right that my mum and dad got the winter fuel payment… She’s on a decent pension and, you know, my mum and dad use the NHS as well, which is getting £22.6billion more over the next couple of years for health spending.”
Ms Reeves told the same publication she always expected people to be angry about the measures she was taking, saying she understood people would be unhappy.
She also said business leaders would get over their anger at her decision to raise employer National Insurance Contributions, arguing they would eventually welcome the stability brought to the public purse.
The Chancellor’s words were echoed on Friday (December 6) by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who told the BBC the Government took tough decisions in the Budget, has no plan for more tax rises and stabilised the economy.
He said: “And that was tough and I don’t want to in any way suggest we will be coming back for more, because that isn’t the plan.”
Ms Reeves, however, was cautious on possible future tax rises, telling Mail Online she couldn’t tie her hands in that way.
The Chancellor said she would “never” do a Budget like that again, describing October’s financial statement as a “once in a parliament moment”.
Earlier this week Ms Reeves again refused to repeat her promise not to raise taxes or borrowing in future budgets, but insisted she would not have to top up her spending plans either.
Appearing at the Great Northern Conference in Hull on Tuesday, the Chancellor faced pressure to repeat the pledge given to the Confederation of British Industry last month that there would be no repeat of the £40bn tax hikes she announced in her first budget.
Ms Reeves told the conference, sponsored by the Yorkshire Post newspaper, that public services would have to “live within their means” and she would not be “coming back with another load of tax rises” or higher borrowing.
But she acknowledged that Labour’s current spending plans would mean “difficult decisions” for public services in the spring of 2025.
