State pensioners will have 'two things' protected after £300 Winter Fuel Payment axe

State pensioners have been told TWO things will be protected by the new Labour Party government after the £300 Winter Fuel Payment axe. Sir Keir Starmer spoke out ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Budget next week, on Wednesday, October 30.

After the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) axed £300 Winter Fuel Allowances, pensioners have been told free bus passes AND prescriptions for the NHS are safe. Sir Keir told reporters on the way to a Commonwealth summit in Samoa: “I’m not going to pre-empt that but we do want to make sure that pensioners are properly protected, of course we do.”

He also said the budget next week will be “the party’s first opportunity to define the way in which we approach the economy.” The Prime Minister said: “We do want to make sure that pensioners are properly protected, of course we do.”

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Starmer said he was “confident that the UK would see more businesses invest beyond the £63 billion pledged at last week’s investment summit.” He continued: there was “no reason” for entrepreneurs to leave the country because of the Budget.

He said: “My evidence that what we are saying is attractive to investors is last Monday’s investment summit that was hugely successful. All the feedback back to us has been that it was very well received by a significant number of global investors.

"At that summit by the end of close of the day £63billion had come in in agreements for people with investment. That to me is clear evidence that these investors have confidence in what we are doing.”

Ms Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is expected to ensure older people continue receiving free prescriptions and bus travel amid concerns that scrapping these could form part of Labour’s plan to bridge the Treasury deficit.

MPs, campaigners and pensioners have demanded that the government reverse their decision on the winter fuel payment, which is estimated to affect around 10 million pensioners. Ms Reeves will announce her budget in parliament next Wednesday.