Rachel Reeves must do the right thing in her first Budget (Image: PA)

       Tomorrow is the budget. It is Rachel Reeves’ chance to do the right thing and cancel the callous change to winter fuel payments.

       I hope she listens to the petition we have presented to her today which asks her to do exactly that. The last 14 years of Conservative governments have seen pensioners’ living standards rise faster than ever before.

       Pensioners are people who have worked hard all their lives, paid into the system and done the right thing.

       Thanks to the decisions taken by Conservatives like introducing the triple lock, bringing forward tax cuts and introducing the new state pension, they are thousands of pounds better off since 2010.

       But now, different decisions are being taken. The cruel decision to means test the winter fuel payment is a looming disaster for millions of pensioners up and down the country, who now face the prospect of choosing between eating or heating.

       Despite Labour finding billions for bumper bungs to their union paymasters, there is apparently no money left for freezing pensioners this winter.

       There are a number of serious issues with this appalling legislation. Firstly, Labour did not carry out a proper impact assessment, which the government’s own independent advisory committee has criticised.

       This means Labour ministers don’t even know the full damage this policy will cause. It will result in many more pensioners going to A&E, costing the NHS hundreds of millions this winter.

       And now we know five out of six pensioners living below the poverty line will lose the vital ￡300, despite Labour trying to characterise many pensioners as millionaires.

       The first duty of any government is to keep its people safe. With Labour’s own research indicating 4,000 pensioners would die because of this policy, this policy is nothing short of a dereliction of duty.

       With the Chancellor’s sheepish suggestion that it may not even save any money, there is now no reason to press ahead with this damaging change.

       Our petition, signed by a quarter of a million people, calls on the Labour Government to stop this callous plan before it’s too late. Let’s hope the Chancellor is listening.

       Party politics aside, Rachel Reeves must do the honourable thing and reverse this heartless decision. Pensioners across the country will depend on it.