Martin lewis verdict on winter fuel payment u-turn as he spots 'two problems'

THE BBC AND ITV STAR SPOKE OUT ON X, FORMERLY TWITTER, AS HE ADDRESSED THE SHAKE-UP FROM THE DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS ( DWP ) AND LABOUR PARTY. 14:24, 21 May 2025 Martin Lewis has

issued his snap verdict on a Winter Fuel Payment u-turn. The BBC and ITV star spoke out on X, formerly Twitter, as he addressed the shake-up from the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP )

and Labour Party. The 52-year-old said: "Very pleased to just hear the Prime Minister has just said he wants more state pensioners to get Winter Fuel Payments (WFP) and they will work

out what they're doing in time for the budget. As I've said since day one, there are two main problems with the way the means testing of WFP was done." He said: " 1. The

threshold is too low. Most need earn under £11,800/yr to get it. That's an extremely low income when typical energy bills are £1,800/yr READ MORE NEW UK PRIMARY SCHOOL DINNER RULES WITH

SOME STAPLES BEING 'BANNED' "2. Using Pension Credit, a benefit that has been known to be critically underclaimed for years, as the mechanism to prove eligibility is flawed.

It leads to, on govts own figures, 700,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable pensioners, people who have total income below £11,800/yr missing out. " The issue that complicates WFP

means testing is it's a household not individual payment. I have suggested to the Chancellor in the past that an imperfect but speedily workable solution would be to give WFP to all

pensioners who are on pension credit or in homes that are council tax bands A to C. " Hopefully they now have time to fix this frankly unpopular mess, that came from a rush job, and

come up with something that works effectively for more people for the coming winter." Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey said: "The world’s longest U-turn continues. The prime

minister has today announced the ‘concepts of a plan’ that have come far too late for the millions of pensioners forced to freeze in their own homes over the winter. Article continues below

The least those people deserve is an apology for this punitive policy and a serious proposal from the prime minister on how he will begin to pick up the pieces from his government’s

disastrous decision. "Not vague words that will take months to materialise into something meaningful."