1 week Ago By Emilia Randall
Keir Starmer is set to defend his decision to cut to the winter fuel duty allowance for pensioners , saying he is prepared to make “tough decisions” as he faces a crunch vote over the policy on Tuesday. Labour is bracing for a potential rebellion over the plans, with the Prime Minister expected to tell the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg today that the previous government had “run away from difficult decisions” adding the only way to change the country was to do “difficult things now”. Starmer is set to say: “I’m absolutely convinced we will only deliver that change, I’m absolutely determined we will, if we do the difficult things now.
I know they’re unpopular, I know they’re difficult, of course they’re tough choices.” In July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans to means test winter fuel duty payments and since with multiple Labour MPs speaking out against the plans . The policy would limit winter fuel allowance to pensioners not receiving other benefits, reducing the number of people eligible by around 10 million.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the £22bn black hole is “not the biggest thing in the world you have to face” as it constitutes less than 2 per cent of government spending. He said it is a “significant amount of money” the government can’t “carry on splurging”. He added the government is “taking tough decisions to fix and stabilise” the economy, adding Labour “didn’t come into government determined to take away people’s fuel allowances” but it “had to balance the books”.
He suggested there are more “difficult choices coming” in the budget saying you “can’t duck the difficult decisions”. Streeting faced questions ahead of Labour’s planned cuts to the winter fuel allowance for pensioners but refused to tell Sky News whether the whip will be withdrawn for Labour politicians who rebel. The NHS has been “broken” in ways which are “unforgivable”, Sir Keir Starmer is expected to say in a major Sunday broadcast interview.
The Prime Minister will make the claim as a review into how children are treated by the NHS is to be published this week. Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg from the Downing Street Cabinet Room, Sir Keir will say reforms to the NHS by the Conservatives in power were “hopelessly misconceived”, and blame the previous government for leaving it in an “awful state” following austerity and the pandemic. A review by eminent surgeon and independent peer Lord Darzi due to be published on Thursday is expected to highlight how children are being let down by the health service.
It is also likely to pinpoint falling vaccination rates, and rises in ADHD medication and in eating disorder-related hospital admissions for children..
