Rachel Reeves has reportedly been involved in talks on whether Labour should rethink winter fuel payment cuts. The Chancellor is said to have taken part in discussions in recent days on whether to change the controversial policy, according to HuffPost UK.
Labour has faced an ongoing backlash for restricting the allowance to only OAPs on pension credit and it has been blamed for the party’s hammering at last week’s local elections. The Government is said to be considering whether to increase the £11,500 threshold over which pensioners are no longer eligible for the payments.
But a source close to Ms Reeves said: “There are no changes. As Rachel said in interviews, the policy stands.”
The Chancellor earlier this week denied that there would be a climbdown on the winter fuel axe.
She said on Wednesday: “That policy stands, it was necessary to put the public finance on a firm footing.”
It comes as senior Labour figures have broken ranks since the local elections to demand a U-turn.
Anger about the policy on the doorstep has caused unease within the party’s ranks after Reform UK won hundreds of council seats and took the previously safe Runcorn and Helsby seat in a by-election.
Former Cabinet minister Louise Haigh said the loss of winter fuel payments, along with cuts to disability benefits, had been “totemic” for many voters.
Welsh First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan called for a change of plan on the cold weather allowance.
The Red Wall Labour group told the Prime Minister that “responding to the issues raised by our constituents, including on winter fuel, isn’t weak, it takes us to a position of strength”.
The decision last July to restrict the winter fuel payment to the poorest pensioners was intended to save around £1.5 billion a year, with more than nine million people who would have previously been eligible losing out.
Downing Street today insisted there was no likelihood of a change in direction on the decision to means-test the winter fuel payment for pensioners.
A No 10 spokesman said: “As we have repeatedly said this week, the position on winter fuel has not changed.”
