Starmer backtracked on winter fuel cut ‘amid fears of electoral disaster'

Telegraph

21-05-2025

Sir Keir Starmer performed an about-turn on winter fuel payments after being warned by senior Labour figures that his decision to cut the benefit would spell disaster at the polls in Scotland.
The Telegraph understands that in recent weeks, senior Scottish Labour figures have been lobbying the Prime Minister to reverse his decision to cut the annual payment to OAPs.
They are said to have warned him the move had inflicted serious damage on the party's hopes of making big gains in next year's Holyrood election.
A series of polls have shown that support for Labour has collapsed in Scotland, particularly among pensioners, with Nigel Farage's Reform UK threatening to become the second-largest party in Holyrood.
In addition, Scottish Labour insiders were worried that the cut was undermining the party's campaign in a by-election for Holyrood's Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat, scheduled for June 5.
Imogen Walker, the Labour MP who holds the equivalent Hamilton and Clyde Valley seat at Westminster, is married to Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir's chief of staff and political svengali.
Although the SNP is expected to comfortably win the by-election, Labour is facing the threat of being pushed into third place by Reform in what would be a big humiliation.
Sir Keir's decision to means-test winter fuel payment applied to all pensioners in England and Wales, with control over the benefit devolved to SNP ministers at Holyrood.
But John Swinney, the First Minister, has argued that he had no choice but to follow suit as the decision south of the border led to a £147 million reduction in the SNP government's funding through the Barnett formula.
The payment of between £100 and £300 went to 130,000 Scottish OAPs in receipt of pension credit and other means-tested benefits last winter – 900,000 fewer than the previous year.
Mr Swinney then used the record funding his government received from Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, to announce that all pensioners would receive a payment of at least £100 before this winter.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, then tried to limit the political damage to his party by promising to reinstate the full benefit of up to £300 if he became first minister after next year's election. However, his pledge appeared to cut little ice with voters, with polls showing no sign of support for Scottish Labour recovering.
Mr Sarwar welcomed the Prime Minister's rethink, tweeting: 'Last year I made it clear that a Scottish Labour government led by me will reinstate the winter fuel payment.'
Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, said the Chancellor ' had to stabilise the economy ' when she announced the cut to the benefit 'and now we're seeing the fruits of that'.
But Mr Swinney tweeted: 'A reminder to everyone in Scotland that Labour cut the winter fuel payment for pensioners and @theSNP brought it back.'
The social media post included a picture of himself with Katy Loudon, the SNP candidate in the by-election, in front of a campaign billboard.
The left-hand side of the poster was red and contained a picture of Sir Keir with the slogan: 'Labour cut your winter fuel payment.' The right-hand side was yellow with an image of Mr Swinney with the caption: 'The SNP is bringing it back.'
Stephen Flynn, the SNP's Westminster leader, said: 'Voters have lost trust in the Labour Party, which has broken the promises it made at the election. Keir Starmer is scraping around in desperation to recover the ground he has lost, but the damage is already done. Trust in his Government is broken.'
'Righting their own wrong'
Liz Smith, the Scottish Tories' shadow social security secretary, said: 'Labour's decision was quickly followed by the SNP in Scotland, who are now trying to also claim credit for partially righting their own wrong, which won't fool the nearly one million Scots pensioners who were hit by that decision.
'Which pensioner will ever trust Keir Starmer again over the winter fuel payment, given his constant shift in position on it?'
Adam Stachura, the director of policy at Age Scotland, said: 'While there is very little detail of how it will be reintroduced in other parts of the UK, it is vital that any new money coming to Scotland as a result is used by the Scottish Government to directly increase the pension age winter heating payment.'