Winter fuel cuts u-turn as starmer hints 'which pensioners are eligible'

CHANCELLOR RACHEL REEVES ANNOUNCED A RAFT OF CUTS TO THE WINTER FUEL PAYMENT AND THE PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENT (PIP) AS PART OF A PLAN TO ADDRESS THE NATION'S £22BILLION 'BLACK

HOLE' 22:24, 02 Jun 2025 Pensioners up and down Britain will find out "within days" if the winter fuel allowance cuts will be reversed. Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year

slashed the benefit by introducing means testing to the payment worth £300 per year. Before this, everyone of pension age could claim the support. The policy change was part of a raft of

measures to address the £22billion "black hole" left in the nation's coffers by successive Tory administrations, Labour argued. However, the winter fuel payment cuts went down

like a led balloon with voters and was attributed to part of the reason Labour narrowly lost a traditionally safe seat in the Runcorn bye-election to Reform. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's

Today programme today, the Prime Minister said he wanted to bring "clarity" to his Government's position on the winter fuel payment. He said: "I want to look again at

where the threshold is. That’s for sure. I’ll be clear with you. "In relation to that, I do think it was our duty to stabilise the economy and to fill in that £22billion black hole. And

I’m not going to resile from that." Article continues below Ministers "need to be absolutely clear where the money is coming from" before they set out details of a partial

U-turn on the winter fuel payment, Sir Keir added before he suggested changes would be announced soon and be in place for the approaching winter. "I take your point, which is that if we

want to look again at which pensioners are eligible, then the sooner we have clarity on that, the better". Voters also took issue with Labour's plan to save billions of quid by

slashing the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) scheme. The Government announced they will introduce tighter qualifying criteria for the daily living element of the scheme in November 2026.

Last month, it was confirmed by ministers that pensioners won't be hit by these changes. This means there'll be no shake-up for folks of state pension age - 66 - and over, born

post-1958. Currently, PIP is doled out to more than three million individuals with disabilities or conditions that necessitate daily assistance. The government has set its sights on the

daily living component of the benefit, presently valued at up to £110 a week. Article continues below Under stringent new regulations set to roll out from November 2026, applicants will need

to rack up at least four points in one daily living activity to qualify. _FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AND STORIES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE FROM THE DAILY STAR, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS._