Sir Keir Starmer has insisted there will be “no change” to the Government’s winter fuel payment cut despite calls to soften the blow following disastrous local election results. The Prime Minister’s press secretary insisted Labour will not be “blown off course” by demands to change the policy.
He said: “We were elected as a stable and serious party after 14 years of chaos and decline. We won’t be blown off course and it’s that mindset and focus that has allowed us to make the progress we have.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman added: “The policy is set out, there will not be a change to the Government’s policy.”
He added that the decision “was one that we had to take to ensure economic stability and repair the public finances following the £22billion black hole left by the previous government”.
He also pointed to an expected £1,900 increase in the state pension over the course of the Parliament and an extension to the household support fund as ways the Government was supporting pensioners.
Welsh First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan called on Sir Keir to rethink the means-testing of winter fuel payments.
It came after Health Secretary Wes Streeting refused to answer whether Labour will “look again” at cuts to winter fuel payments.
The Prime Minister was said to be considering a partial U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts following Labour’s devastating defeat in last week’s elections.
Ministers fear the changes, which the Government admits will plunge 100,000 pensioners into poverty, have turned voters against the party and could cost it victory at the next general election.
The Express has demanded a U-turn on the policy since last year, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the measure.