Most disabled pensioners will be stripped of fuel allowance

SHOCK figures showing most disabled pensioners will lose their winter fuel allowance were slipped out by officials last night.

-  Michael Knowles, Sam Lister and Christian Calgie

The Department for Work and Pensions also admitted 83% of over-80s will be stripped of their £300 payments.

Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, a partner at pension consultants LCP, said: "It is shocking that this impact assessment has appeared late on a Friday evening, three days after MPs voted on the issue.

"The Government's own figures show that seven in 10 disabled people over pension age will lose their winter fuel payment and more than eight in 10 of those aged 80 or over.

"This information should have been in front of MPs when they decided whether to support the policy."

The data was published hours after Sir Keir Starmer insisted there was no impact assessment showing how the Government expects the policy to affect people. Instead, the DWP released a "high level equality analysis" in response to a freedom of infor mation request.

Meanwhile, MPs warned Labour has "no regard for the human cost" of the cut and accused the Prime Minister of making a "cruelly calculated" move after he admitted he has ditched his party's own assessment while in opposition in 2017 that 4,000 could die without the seasonal top-up.

Conservative MP Andrew Snowden said: