Streeting: Voters will thank Labour over winter fuel cuts
The Independent|January 06, 2025
The public will thank Sir Keir Starmer for scrapping winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners and other “unpopular decisions”, the health secretary has claimed.
ARCHIE MITCHELL
Streeting: Voters will thank Labour over winter fuel cuts

Wes Streeting said Labour had to make decisions that were unpopular in its first six months in power, blaming “the massive hole Britain was left in” by the Conservatives.

Since being elected with a landslide majority in July, Sir Keir’s government has stripped winter fuel payments of up to £300 for millions of elderly people, introduced inheritance tax changes dubbed a “family farm tax”, which critics fear will force farmers into selling up, and hiked employer national insurance contributions.

The decisions have led to a historic fall in popularity for the prime minister, with The Independent’s latest Techne UK tracker poll showing a three-way battle between Labour, the Tories and Reform UK ahead of May’s local elections.

This story is from the January 06, 2025 edition of The Independent.

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This story is from the January 06, 2025 edition of The Independent.

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