Fears of 'cruel winter' if welfare fund help ends

Campaigners and MPs say efforts to cut public spending deficit could push people into poverty

- Kiran Stacey , Patrick Butler

Millions of vulnerable people face a "cruel winter" owing to a combination of rising energy costs and government cuts to welfare schemes, Labour MPs and campaigners have warned, as Keir Starmer comes under pressure to extend key financial support programmes.

Labour backbenchers are calling on the prime minister to reverse or mitigate the government's decision to end winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, and to extend the household support fund (HSF), which is due to run out in September.

They warn that thousands of people could die because of the cold this winter without those schemes, with fuel prices expected to rise by an average of 10%.

The HSF was introduced in 2021 after the £20-a-week Covid uplift to universal credit was withdrawn, and has become a vital source of emergency support for households in crisis.

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said: "There is real concern about the levels of poverty in communities like York. People can't afford to get through the week, and without the additional protection of things like the household support fund, I don't know how some people are going to get through the winter.

"The regulation to end universal winter fuel payments will be brought in by 16 September. That is no time to prepare for what could be a cruel winter for very vulnerable people."