‘Keir Starmer should U-turn on ditching winter gas allowance to revive belief’

All is not rosy in the Downing Street garden when Keir Starmer grimly warns of pain before gain.

Nobody expects the PM to rebuild Britain in a matter of weeks from smouldering ruins inherited after 14 years of Tory misrule. But the post election change of tone, hope and optimism replaced by agony, is sounding alarm bells for some Labour MPs. Blaming the Conservatives for the dire state of living standards, public services, lawlessness and disorder and a Treasury black hole of £22billion is justifiable.

What is not, in a country crying out for change rather than more austerity, is axing Gordon Brown’s winter fuel allowances of up to £300 for 10 million pensioners – including those on as little as £220 a week – as gas and electricity bills are going up again. Starmer’s vow to restore trust in politics is damaged. This own goal is a gift to shattered Tories groping for a lifeline.

Many voters believe the heating grab is a costly breach of trust. It was not discussed in the election campaign nor included in the party’s manifesto. One Labour MP has called it a suicide announcement. Labour ministers and MPs are shell shocked at the number of angry letters and emails on the issue.

They want Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to U-turn, ditching the cliff-top plummet or tapering payments to protect retirees on modest occupational pensions. The Mirror postbag is similarly bulging, traditional loyal Labour voters feeling coldly betrayed and callously short-changed by a party they helped put into office.

This is a moment for Starmer and Reeves to heed Denis Healey’s first law of politics, which was for those in a hole to stop digging. Snatching up to £300 from the frail and elderly living on modest incomes also sits ill with Starmer’s statement that those with the broadest shoulders will plug the hole and finance renewal.

Reeves ending the scandal of high earners and the wealthiest exploiting capital gains rates lower than income taxon hard work, or exploiting inheritance tax loopholes, would deserve to be applauded in her October 30 Budget. A Spanish-style wealth tax on the richest could revive shattered services but it is not on the Chancellor or PM’s agenda.

Making life worse for millions of pensioners is an unforced error best corrected swiftly to avoid casting a long shadow over an infant government.