Major update on Labour u-turning over £300 Winter Fuel Payment axe

An update has been issued over the new Labour Party government potentially U-TURNING over the £300 Winter Fuel Payment cut. The Conservative Party's MPs have delivered a petition protesting the Labour Party and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decision, which they say is "grossly unfair".

The petition, signed by over 250,000 people, calls on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the proposed means-testing of the benefit. Mel Stride said: "They struggled with the weight of the petition, actually, because it's over a quarter of a million signatories and our Conservative Party petition calling on the government and Rachel Reeves tomorrow in particular, to scrap this means testing of the Winter Fuel Payment.

"It means 10 million pensioners losing out, and two thirds of those pensioners below the poverty level will lose this benefit. And we don't believe that's right." He added: "What we do know is right now these are political choices. So this government, this Labour government took the decision to spend billions of pounds on over inflationary wage increases for their trade union paymasters.

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"They've done it on the backs, in part at least, of pensioners some of whom are very vulnerable." Mr Stride explained: " So inevitably around all fiscal events, everything gets looked at. I never came anywhere near taking a decision like this. It's just totally the wrong thing to do.

"As I said earlier, you know, two thirds of those pensioners that are below the poverty line are actually going to miss out on this benefit. We've just seen the energy price cap is about to go up by 10 per cent. At the same time as we're making these cuts there are pensioners out there now who are going to have to take that decision between heating and eating, and we really need to see this policy reversed.

"Tomorrow is Rachel Reeves chance to do just that."