Labour MP: Voting to cut the winter fuel payments makes me sick to my stomach

LABOUR MPs have turned on their Chancellor for cutting winter fuel payments -warning: "Old people will freeze this winter as a result."

- Christian Calgie

It came as official figures showed 38,500 worried pensioners have rushed to claim pension credit in the five weeks since the Government announced only those in receipt of this or other means-tested benefits would get the winter boost.

The stampede was more than double the 17,900 claims made in the previous five weeks, the Department for Work and Pensions revealed.

The squeeze, to help fill what Rachel Reeves claims is a £22billion "black hole" in the public finances, is expected to cut the number of pensioners getting the payment of up to £300 from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving around £1.4bn this year.

But some Labour backbenchers say they feel unable to vote with the Government when the policy comes to the Commons on Tuesday.

The number calling for the move to be postponed has now risen to 13, as a Commons motion blasting the cuts as a risk to the health of older people gathered momentum.

Conscience

The motion was started by newly elected Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan a week ago, and has since been joined by prominent Left-wing critics of the Government, including some sacked by Sir Keir Starmer for rebelling on the two-child limit vote in July.