IT'S 'CRUEL TO ROB PENSIONERS OF WINTER FUEL PAYMENTS'

RACHEL Reeves must make a U-turn now on her "cruel" decision to "rob" nearly 10 million pensioners of the winter fuel payment, MPs and campaigners have demanded.

- Steph Spyro

The call comes after inflation rose for the first time this year and pressure is put back on household budgets with energy bills predicted to rise by £155 annually.

Former Tory Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey attacked Chancellor Ms Reeves' controversial axing of the payment.

She insisted her "cruel and out of the blue decision to rob millions of pensioners of their winter fuel allowance, not least the almost one million people who are eligible for pension credit but don't claim it, had nothing to do with economics and everything to do with cynical political calculation".

The Daily Express today launches a crusade to Save Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners, and is demanding the Labour Government reverses its stance. It follows this newspaper's successful efforts to guarantee the triple lock for state pensions.

With inflation rising to 2.2% in July, further pressure will be heaped on the two million pensioners whose incomes are just above the threshold for claiming the winter fuel lifeline.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said: "Rachel Reeves is taking vital support from vulnerable pensioners just weeks after an election campaign where Labour claimed to have no plans to do this. Pensioners will see that they simply cannot trust what Labour say."

The Tory leadership hopeful added: "Even those who rely solely on the state pension for their income will lose the payment, as will the hundreds of thousands who are eligible for pension credit but don't currently claim it.

"The Chancellor is choosing to grant above-inflation pay deals for the public sector, paid for off the backs of pensioners who worked all their lives. I fully back the Daily Express campaign."