Starmer faces test over winter fuel payments

Keir Starmer will face a test of his authority next week after promising a vote on the government's plans to limit the winter fuel allowance to the poorest pensioners.

- Pippa Crerar

MPs will get the chance to vote on secondary legislation on Tuesday that will introduce means-testing of the benefit, after pressure from opposition parties and concerned Labour backbenchers.

About half a dozen Labour MPs have publicly criticised the plan and demanded a rethink amid fears that the move, worth up to £300, could leave thousands of pensioners struggling to pay their household bills this winter.

The scale of any potential mutiny remains unclear as voting against the government could result in losing the whip. Seven Labour MPs were suspended for six months after they rebelled on the two-child benefit cap in July.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has ignored calls to reverse her decision, instead focusing on getting more of the 800,000 people who qualify for pension credit but do not yet claim it to sign up.

At her first Treasury questions, Reeves confirmed that pensioners receiving housing benefit would automatically get any pension credit they were due. She has already extended the household support fund for the poorest households.

She repeatedly told MPs that increases to the basic state pension meant people would be substantially better off than a year ago, adding that the government was committed to further increases in the coming years.