Winter Fuel Payment u-turn update after 'rapid' government 're-think'

A row over the Winter Fuel Payment cut from the new Labour Party government and the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) is threatening to rumble on - with a protest set for the UK this week. Protesters are preparing to target Rachel Reeves with a demo organised by the Unite trade union and the Yorkshire and Humber Pensioners' Convention,

It is set to take place in Leeds tomorrow, targeting the constituency of the Chancellor. 68 per cent of constituents believe it is unfair that pensioners with weekly incomes as low as £220 would be denied winter fuel payments under the new system.

72 per cent of respondents are worried about their own or family members' ability to afford heating bills this winter. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has spoken out ahead of the planned demo after the £300 payouts were axed.

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"The campaign opposing the pickpocketing of pensioners is now coming to the chancellor's own back yard. Her own constituents don't support the policy and neither does the rest of the country," she said. And Ms Graham called for an urgent policy reversal from the Government.

"The government needs to rapidly rethink this tin-eared cut. It is simply wrong that winter fuel payments have been slashed while the mega wealthy remain untouched," she added. Yorkshire & Humber Pensioners Convention secretary Fran Postlethwaite warned about the policy's widespread impact.

"Labour ending the universal winter fuel payment will take away a lifeline for millions of pensioners, at a time when energy bills are increasing," she said. Postlethwaite highlighted that around one million pensioners eligible for both pension credit and winter fuel payment are not claiming it.

She suggested alternative funding solutions, noting that "a one per cent tax on the richest one per cent would create £25billion" to support public services.