Winter fuel cuts were factor at elections, says minister

Labour needs a hard reset

In the aftermath of Labour’s landslide election victory, some heralded a new era of stability in British politics. A government with a comfortable parliamentary majority, it was said, would restore growth to the UK’s stagnant economy. It did not take long for these assumptions to be upended. Reform’s remarkable performance in the local elections confirmed that the volatility which has defined politics since the 2008 financial crisis endures. For…

Keir Starmer stands firm on winter fuel payment cuts amid Eluned Morgan concerns

Wes Streeting admitted anger over the cuts hurt Labour in the local elections last week with voters raising the issue on the doorstep

No10 rules out reverse to winter fuel payment cuts

The government has ruled out a reverse to its controversial cuts to winter fuel payments, despite a number of calls from within Labour for the policy to be reconsidered. Labour suffered a poor set of results at last week’s local election, losing 198 council seats – double what the number strategists had expected.  This, combined with Reform UK’s extremely narrow by-election win in Runcorn and Helsby has deepened rifts within Labour, with several…

Keir Starmer urged to U-turn on winter fuel cuts after bruising local elections

The winter fuel allowance cuts have proved very unpopular (Picture: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images) Wes Streeting has played down reports the government might be planning to rethink its unpopular cuts to the winter fuel payment after the local elections. Labour performed significantly worse than expected last week, losing 187 England council seats – despite not having many to begin with in the heavily Conservative areas wh…

Pressure on Starmer Over Winter Fuel Cash Squeeze After Local Election Results

A senior Labour figure called for a rethink in the decision to means-test the winter fuel allowance as ministers acknowledged stripping the payments from millions of pensioners contributed to Labour’s hammering at the ballot box. Welsh First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan said the decision to axe the universal benefit was “something that comes up time and again” as she called for a U-turn. Cabinet minister Wes Streeting acknowledged people’s an…

No 10 resists Labour calls for winter fuel rethink

Calls to abandon cuts to the pensions top-up have grown in the wake of local election losses last week.