Sir Keir Starmer is poised to reverse controversial reforms to his government’s infamous winter fuel payment cuts as soon as June, according to reports.
The move could allow the party to repair its damaged relationship with voters and tackle the threat from Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
Rachel Reeves’s decision to strip 10 million pensioners of the payment within weeks of taking office has proven toxic for her party and was a key issue during last month’s local elections, which were disastrous for Labour.
Discussion on the policy within No 10 has intensified after focus groups of voters showed Labour could be forgiven for the move if there was a full or semi-U-turn, according to The i Paper. And, asked during a trip to Albania whether he was considering changing course, the PM refused to rule out making more people eligible for the allowance.
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 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 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.
A Treasury spokesperson pointed The i to Ms Reeves’s repeated denials that she will change course.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We had to take tough but right decisions in the Budget to stabilise the economy after years of damage and decline.
“As a result of what we’ve done, [we have] got record investment into the NHS, which is bringing down waiting lists and delivering three million extra appointments in the first 10 months of a Labour government, with four interest rate cuts and growth figures of 0.7 per cent.
“The decisions we made weren’t easy. But it’s clear they are having the effect of stabilising our economy and allowing our economy to grow, putting more money in the pockets of working people.”
Ministers insist they had to cut the allowance to repair the public finances following a £22bn “black hole” left by the previous government.
The policy is expected to save the government around £1.5bn a year, but will push more than 100,000 pensioners into poverty.
The change is more widely known than any of Labour’s other policies, while around two-thirds of voters dislike it.
Luke Tryl, executive director of polling organisation More In Common, has described it as Labour’s “original sin” and said it had a major impact on the party’s disastrous performance in this month’s elections.
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