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 MPs calling for the party to return to more left-wing and socially democratic policies.
One of the main calls from within the party has been for the government to reverse its cuts to winter fuel payments, a policy that has proved unpopular with many voters.
However, Downing Street has ruled this out.
Speaking to reporters in Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said there “will not be a change to the government’s policy,” the BBC reports.
The spokesman said the policy, which restricted eligibility for the annual payments to pensioners, was necessary to “ensure economic stability and repair the public finances”.
The comments from Number 10 come after the Guardian had reported minister were considering backtracking on some of the cuts later this year.
Polling from YouGov found that the winter fuel allowance cuts were the main reason voters who backed Labour had last year’s general election no longer do.
More than a third (35%) of Labour defectors since the general election cited the cuts as the main reason they no longer back the party.
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