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Sir Keir Starmer has announced a U-turn on last year’s controversial cuts to winter fuel payments.<\/p>\n
More than nine million pensioners lost out on payments worth up to \u00a3300 after eligibility for the pension top-up was tightened last year.<\/p>\n
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said ministers would look again at the threshold to allow “more pensioners” to qualify again.<\/p>\n
He did not provide further details, adding that the changes would be made at a future Budget.<\/p>\n
But he added the govenrment would only “make decisions we can afford”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The winter fuel payment is a lump-sum amount of \u00a3200 a year for pensioners under 80, increasing to \u00a3300 for over-80s, paid in November or December.<\/p>\n
Last year, the government restricted the payments to those who qualify for pension credit and other income-related benefits, in a bid save \u00a31.4bn.<\/p>\n
The move did not feature in Labour’s general election manifesto, and meant around nine million pensioners no longer qualify for the top-up.<\/p>\n
Some Labour MPs have blamed the policy for losses at last month’s local elections, where Labour lost around two-thirds of the seats it was defending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n