The public will thank Sir Keir Starmer for scrapping winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners and other “unpopular decisions”, the health secretary has claimed.
Wes Streeting said Labour had to make decisions that were unpopular in its first six months in power, blaming “the massive hole Britain was left in” by the Conservatives.
Since being elected with a landslide majority in July, Sir Keir’s government has stripped winter fuel payments of up to £300 for millions of elderly people, introduced inheritance tax changes dubbed a “family farm tax”, which critics fear will force farmers into selling up, and hiked employer national insurance contributions.
The decisions have led to a historic fall in popularity for the prime minister, with The Independent’s latest Techne UK tracker poll showing a three way battle between Labour, the Tories and Reform UK ahead of May’s local elections.
And, quizzed about Labour’s record in office so far, Mr Streeting said on Sunday “the reason we have been willing to make unpopular decisions in the last six months is to get Britain out of the massive hole it was left in”.
He told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “They might be unpopular decisions now, but I hope they will be decisions that, in the longer run, people will thank us for when they see the country improving.
“When they see waiting times in hospitals falling, when they see children having enough teachers in the classroom, breakfast clubs, when there are more police on the streets… all of the change we want to deliver, which isn’t easy, given the scale of the challenge in the country.
“But that is what we are focused on in 2025.”
Government modelling released by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall suggests cutting pensioners’ winter fuel payments will drive 100,000 more into poverty by 2027. The change, announced by Rachel Reeves in July, will impact around 10 million pensioners, with tens of thousands falling into relative poverty this year as a result.
Restricting the winter fuel payment to only those claiming pension credit is aimed at saving the public purse £1.5bn a year.
And, after outbreaks of snow in January, Mr Streeting said that Labour is taking action to ease the cost of heating and protect the poorest pensioners.
Asked whether his advice to turn the heating on before the weekend was “tactful”, the health secretary said: “It is part of the advice that the NHS is giving to people during this cold snap to make sure that people are doing whatever they can to keep warm, to make sure, as we’ve been doing in the run-up to this winter, that people get vaccinated and so on.
“But just coming back to this issue of winter fuel allowance, the chancellor did protect winter fuel allowance for the poorest pensioners. There is the warm homes discount (which) people should see if they’re eligible for.
“So in terms of protecting the poorest pensioners this winter, the Government is taking action. Of course, that doesn’t mean that getting rid of the winter fuel allowance for others has been a popular decision.”
A Reform UK Spokesman said:“No one will thank Keir Starmer for cutting the winder fuel payment for nearly 10 million pensioners.
“Because of Keir Starmer’s actions, pensioners are freezing this winter and can’t afford to keep themselves warm. This is one of the biggest insults to pensioners in recent times.
“The only thing people would thank the prime minister for is reversing his winter fuel cuts and tax hiking budget.”
