Senior government figures are in talks about whether to U-turn on the chancellor’s winter fuel cuts within weeks, it has emerged.
The cuts, which will strip millions of pensioners of payments worth up to £300, could reportedly be partially reversed or scrapped altogether.
Ongoing discussions have covered all options, including the government sticking with its existing policy, the BBC reported.
It is believed a decision could be made in time for the government’s spending review on 11 June, which will see Rachel Reeves set out government budgets for the coming years.
In a hint she could be reconsidering the policy, or looking at plans to change the threshold to ensure more pensioners receive winter fuel payments, Ms Reeves said she is “listening to concerns about the level at which the payment is removed”.
But quizzed about mounting speculation that she is planning a U-turn, she sidestepped the questions.
Ms Reeves said she would “never” make a policy commitment without being able to say where the money is coming from, after claiming the government has “returned stability” to the UK economy.
Ms Reeves also said the government had to take “difficult and urgent decisions” following last summer’s election as she responded to MPs urging her to change course.
Challenged over winter fuel cuts, and the government’s plans to slash welfare spending, Ms Reeves told MPs: “The only reason that we’ve been able to grow the economy and get those cuts in interest rates, which helped working families in Canterbury and right across our country, is to have returned stability back to our economy and that means never making a policy commitment without being able to say where the money is coming from; that is what got our country into a mess under the previous government.”
A Treasury source told The Independent that the winter fuel policy stands.
It comes after weeks of mounting speculation about a reversal, with the policy largely blamed for Labour’s dire local election performance earlier this month.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party lost a by-election to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in Runcorn and Helsby, once a safe Labour seat.
Government focus groups of voters have indicated Labour would be forgiven for the move if it performed a full or partial U-turn, according to reports.
Ministers are considering whether to give more pensioners the allowance, by increasing the £11,500 income cut threshold over which they no longer get the payment or by reversing it altogether, The i Paper reported.
It comes as No 10 is also facing a potential Labour rebellion next month when changes to welfare are voted on in the House of Commons.
More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a letter raising their concerns about the cuts.
In the wake of the elections, which also saw Reform win more than 500 council seats, Sir Keir publicly ruled out an outright U-turn, telling broadcasters: “We had to stop the chaos, we had to stabilise the economy.”
But just hours before, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, failed to rule out a reversal of the policy.
Senior Labour figures have also joined calls for ministers to restore the payment to at least some of those affected.
The Department for Work and Pensions was contacted for comment.
Reeves defends winter fuel payment cuts amid speculation over U-turn: Live
Third man charged over fires at properties linked to UK Prime Minister Starmer
Disability claimants with back problems to lose most in Labour’s welfare changes
‘Intolerable’: UK hits Israel with sanctions over Gaza and halts trade talks
The real reason Labour has waited until now to take action on Israel
Food bank demand up by half in five years as charity urges Labour to act
