Rachel Reeves spoke of her pride in ‘standing up for’ winter fuel payments before dramatically axing them for 10million pensioners.
A social media post has emerged showing the Chancellor pledging to ‘defend’ the benefit in 2017, when she was a lowly backbencher.
Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones also insisted older people should not bear the ‘brunt’ of efforts to balance the books as recently as last November.
The posts on X surfaced after Ms Reeves declared that pensioners on moderate incomes will not get the payments – worth up to £300.
In a dramatic statement in the Commons yesterday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that winter fuel will be means-tested
Rachel Reeves previously spoke at her ‘pride’ over ‘standing up’ for winter fuel payements
In a dramatic statement in the Commons yesterday, the Chancellor said that winter fuel will be means-tested.
Only those on pension credit will qualify, excluding people with incomes as low as £1,000 a month.
Ms Reeves claimed the raid was needed to help fill a £22billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances left behind by the last Conservative government.
She warned of more pain in her first Budget on October 30, saying there would be ‘difficult decisions’ on ‘spending, welfare and tax’.
In a message from May 2017, during the election campaign, Ms Reeves commented on a 1945 poster claiming that ‘Labour stands for decent pensions’.
‘This time again it’s Labour who will stand up for pensioners, defending the triple lock & winter fuel payments.’
Mr Jones also gave a strikingly response last year when speculation emerged that wealthier pensioners could lose winter fuel payments.
He wrote to then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying: ‘Pensioners will be deeply concerned about such speculation, especially ahead of winter, and anxious that their incomes may be under threat from this Government.’
Pressed repeatedly on BBC‘s Newsnight about whether Labour secretly plotted to scrap winter fuel payments during the election campaign, the MP said Keir Starmer‘s team ‘did not work on this policy in Opposition’.
Pressed last night on why she was picking on pensioners, Ms Reeves added: ‘These are not the decisions I wanted to make but in the circumstances I find myself in, these are the fair and the right decisions to make.’
Darren Jones insisted older people should not bear the ‘brunt’ of efforts to balance the books just last November
Pressed repeatedly on BBC ‘s Newsnight, Treasury minister Darren Jones said Keir Starmer ‘s team ‘did not work on this policy in Opposition’
The Tories accused the Government of misleading the public over winter fuel payments.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said: ‘During the election, Labour sources said the winter fuel payments would continue under a Starmer government and that there were no plans to change eligibility for these benefits.
‘Today they have revealed they misled the public.
‘Instead of giving winter fuel payments to pensioners, they have chosen to bend to the pressure from the unions by giving a 22 per cent pay rise to junior doctors and reversing the Conservative government’s planned reduction to the civil service.’
