Sir Keir Starmer announced the U-turn at PMQs (Image: House of Commons/AFP via Getty)
Kemi Badenoch has vowed to keep fighting for pensioners after Sir Keir Starmer was pressured into an embarrassing U-turn over cuts to winter fuel payments. The Conservative leader warned that millions of older people are still at risk of going cold and hungry this winter despite his partial climbdown.
Mrs Badenoch said “this fight isn’t over” as she praised the Daily Express's campaign to reverse Labour’s decision to strip almost 10million pensioners of the payments. Her rallying cry came after the Prime Minister signalled a partial about-turn over the Government’s controversial decision in a desperate attempt to revive his party’s fortunes.
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The PM needs to stop whining and own up to his own failures.
Inflation is up. Bills rising. Unemployment increasing. Pensioners are punished. And Labour MPs laugh AGAIN.
U-turning on his cruel winter fuel cuts is too little, too late. This Labour government is shafting the… pic.twitter.com/mpzENpEn9Q
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) May 21, 2025
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He said the Government will lower the threshold for receiving the cash, worth up to ￡300, because the economy has now improved sufficiently.
The Leader of the Opposition, who has repeatedly challenged Sir Keir over the cut, said: “This embarrassing U-turn is a direct result of pressure from the Conservative Party and the relentless campaigning of the Daily Express.
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“Since becoming leader, I’ve challenged Keir Starmer week after week over his cruel decision to cut winter fuel payments – and my party has fought for pensioners left out in the cold by Labour.
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“Now, under mounting pressure, Keir Starmer has finally buckled. It’s taken him 10 months to realise it’s simply unacceptable to force vulnerable pensioners to suffer, just so that he can hand out things like inflation-busting pay rises to the trade unions.”
Officials were unable to say how many more pensioners would be eligible or if the policy would be altered in time for this winter.
Mrs Badenoch added: “But let’s be clear – this fight isn’t over. We’re yet to see the detail, and there is a real risk that millions of pensioners will be left choosing between heating and eating again this winter.
“That’s why we’ll keep fighting for pensioners to get the support they deserve. Keir Starmer and this Labour Government have abandoned them at every turn and I won’t let them get away with it."
This newspaper has campaigned tirelessly alongside the Silver Voices campaign group for the elderly to reverse the cut ever since it was introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last summer.
The decision to means-test the previously universal payment was one of the first announcements after Labour’s landslide election victory and has been widely blamed for the party’s collapse in support.
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Rachel Reeves came under fire after announcing the cut last summer (Image: Andy Stenning/Reach Plc)
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It was an issue Labour campaigners were challenged about on the doorsteps during May’s elections, which led to the party losing councillors and the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary by-election to Reform UK.
A poll on Wednesday showed Nigel Farage’s party eight points ahead of Labour in the wake of its local elections surge.
Sir Keir has also faced the threat of a revolt over the winter fuel policy, as well as curbs to working-age benefits.
But the Government insisted the policy was necessary to help stabilise the public finances, allowing the improvements in the economic picture.
Sir Keir said he understood the financial pressures on pensioners as he made the announcement at Prime Minister’s Questions.
“I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners,” he told the Commons.
“As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that, as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.”
He said the Government will “only make decisions we can afford” and will therefore look at this as part of a “fiscal event” – indicating a change will not be announced before the Chancellor’s autumn Budget.
Mrs Badenoch challenged Sir Keir in the Commons, calling him “desperate” and asking how the public could trust him again.
She said she would like to see pensioners on ￡11,000 to ￡15,000 a year getting winter fuel payments and that it will be “too late” if Sir Keir waits until the autumn Budget to set out the details.
The policy shift came just hours after Ms Reeves and Environment Secretary Steve Reed were both forced to defend the decision to means-test the payment during media interviews on Wednesday morning.
An ally of the Chancellor said she and the Prime Minister were “united” behind the commitment to increase the number of pensioners receiving the payment.
Embarrassingly, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman was unable to give details about how Sir Keir would deliver on his promise or how many pensioners would benefit.
Age UK’s charity director Caroline Abrahams welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to change the winter fuel policy but said “the devil is always in the detail and we postpone judgement until we hear more”.
Last winter led to a “very significant numbers of older people too frightened to turn on their heating when it was cold”, she said, adding: “If nothing changes, next winter threatens to be just as bad.”
Amy Dodge, of Independent Age, said: “While this news will bring some relief to older people on a low income who lost the winter fuel payment, there will still be a period of uncertainty and anxiety until details about who is eligible are clearly announced and detailed.
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"At a time when higher bills and rising inflation are stretching budgets to breaking point, older people on low incomes need reassurance that they will be supported to heat their home next winter and beyond.”
Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, a partner at pension consultants LCP, said: “Creating a brand new system to reinstate winter fuel payments to the group of pensioners just above pension credit level could face formidable practical difficulties.
“The Prime Minister may find that he gets little political credit for a complex change which still leaves the majority of pensioners without any additional help with winter fuel costs.”