Keir Starmer finally bowed to political pressure from the Conservatives and reversed his cut to the Winter Fuel Payment, having previously defended a policy that forced pensioners to choose between heating and eating.
Last year, 348 Labour MPs voted to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners, despite knowing it would push an estimated 100,000 more pensioners into poverty. Even Labour’s own internal modelling warned of these devastating consequences, yet they pressed ahead regardless. This affected 21,661 pensioners here in Droitwich and Evesham.
While I welcome this U-turn, it comes too late for those who suffered through last winter without the help they deserved. Labour’s decision forced many older people to make impossible choices at the height of the cost of living crisis.
The public will rightly question whether they can trust Keir Starmer’s promises on any issue when he was so determined to defend a policy that left pensioners struggling.
We will continue to hold Labour to account to ensure that no pensioner currently eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment loses their entitlement. They deserve certainty and security, not last-minute policy reversals from a government that can’t seem to get its story straight.
