Winter fuel cuts will leave 'more of elderly in hospital'

Anonymous Labour MPs admits fears over ‘brutal plan

- ANDY GREGORY

Labour frontbenchers and MPs have reportedly expressed fears that chancellor Rachel Reeves’s “brutal” plan to scrap the winter fuel allowance for all but the poorest pensioners will put more older people in hospital.

Around 10 million people are expected to be directly impacted by the plans announced by the chancellor in July – prompting gasps in the House of Commons – to cut the winter fuel payments first introduced by her predecessor Gordon Brown in 1997.

The decision, made ahead of Ms Reeves’s first budget next month, will axe the payment of up to £300 for all pensioners except those in receipt of those claiming pension credit or other means-tested benefits. It comes as regulator Ofgem raises its energy price cap by 10 per cent.

The plans have sparked anger and concern across the country – close to half a million people have signed an Age UK petition calling on Sir Keir Starmer’s government to rethink its plans.