Starmer beneath mounting strain to U-turn over winter gasoline money cuts

Sir Keir Starmer is facing a major cross-party effort to kill off plans to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are mired in the first controversy of his premiership over the decision to make the £300 handouts means-tested.

As many as 30 of his own MPs could ignore threats to strip them off the whip and refuse to back the plan in a Tory-organised vote in the Commons on Tuesday. 

One, York MP Rachael Maskell, has already warned that the decision could lead to ‘excess deaths’ this winter.

And Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield, a long-term Starmer critic, suggested that it would be ‘shameful’ for MPs earning £91,346 a year to cut aid to elderly people living on about £13,000 a year. 

At the same time peers are set to attempt to kill off the change in the House of Lords, led by former Tory peer Baroness Altmann, who branded it ‘one of the worst decisions I have ever seen’.

It came as the PM gave his first major TV interview of his time in No10, warning his government is prepared to be ‘unpopular’ to get things done. He said the previous Tory administration had ‘run away from difficult decisions’.

‘We are going to have to be unpopular,’ he said. ‘Tough decisions are tough decisions.’ 

In a key Commons vote, the Government will seek approval for plans to stop the payments to about ten million pensioners.

Ms  Reeves has justified the shock cut as necessary to combat an alleged £22 billion blackhole left by the previous Tory Government.

But the move has angered many Labour MPs amid warnings that cutting the payments, which are worth up to £300, would lead to ‘excess deaths’ this winter.

Embarrassingly for the Prime Minister, union leaders at this week’s TUC conference are also set to vote on the policy on the same day he addresses the event.

Rebel Labour MPs claimed last night that as many as 30 of them would defy the Government by refusing to vote for the measure.

However, most are likely to do that by abstaining after seven Labour colleagues had the Whip suspended in July after openly voting against the Government to scrap the two-child benefit cap. 

Yesterday, Ms Duffield told Radio 4’s Today programme she intended to abstain, saying her job was to ‘represent my constituents’, not to ‘suck up’ to the Labour leadership.

Under the new proposals, pensioners living on just above £13,000 a year will lose the winter fuel help. 

Today presenter Mishal Husain reminded Ms Duffield how Labour’s online election campaign manifesto included a video in which a pensioner – named only as ‘Gary’ – said he was ‘supporting Labour because they’ll give us cheaper energy…’ and would look after the ‘elderly’.

Ms Husain pointed out that it wasn’t known if Gary, would lose his winter fuel payment, but Ms Duffield said the video message was ‘pretty awful to hear’.

Ms Duffield added: ‘I find it particularly shameful that MPs, backbenchers like me, get £91,000 a year and here we are, making these decisions that will affect people on £13,000.’

The Government has already launched a campaign to get up to 880,000 people who miss out on pension credit to apply for the benefit, which also entitles them to keep winter fuel payments.

With its huge Commons majority, Labour is assured of winning the key vote this week.

But last night, Tory party chairman Richard Fuller said: ‘No MP from any party should run scared from stopping Labour’s cruel plans to cut the winter fuel payments.’

Meanwhile Baroness Altmann has tabled a ‘fatal motion in the Lords – which if passed could block the change – though Labour could come back with new primary legislation in future to push it through.

The peer, a former Tory minister who now sits unaffiliated, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘This shouldn’t be a political issue. This is an issue of social policy for some of the frailest and most vulnerable people in the country.

‘They are easy targets to pick upon. Many of them won’t or can’t demonstrate or make a fuss. They will be in their 90s, housebound, many aren’t even on the internet or are disabled at home. They need to keep warm for their health.

‘Nobody warned about taking away £300 quid from them, just as winter is coming and energy costs are going up again. It was never, ever mentioned in the Labour manifesto.’

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is not ‘remotely happy’ about having to vote to ‘take money away’ from pensioners by cutting the winter fuel allowance, but argued it is essential to balance public finances.

He told Sky News: ‘I think it is a tough choice, and we’ve had plenty of political criticism for it, I think, which demonstrates the political pain of it.

‘I’m not remotely happy about it, and I’m not remotely happy about having to say to some of my constituents, I’m sorry that I’m going into work this week to vote for something that will take money away from you.’

He added: ‘I think there are lots of people out there, actually, particularly pensioners, who’ve seen governments come and go, and have seen what happens when politicians duck the difficult decisions, who, even if they don’t agree with this choice, I hope will take some reassurance that this isn’t a Government that ducks difficult decisions or pretends you can spend money you don’t have, or pretends that the the stability of the public finances is not an essential ingredient the future growth, prosperity and success of our country.’