Prime Minister insists economy ‘stabilised’ – NOT political pressure – forced dramatic U-turn on payments affecting 10 million pensioners
Sir Keir Starmer stood firm today in the face of mounting criticism, stubbornly refusing to apologise for the winter fuel payments disaster that has sent Labour’s popularity plummeting to historic lows.
The embattled Prime Minister insisted it was “the right decision” to originally strip the vital £300 handouts from around 10 million pensioners – despite his government’s humiliating climbdown that will now see payments restored to more than nine million retirees.
In a series of bruising broadcast interviews on Tuesday morning, Sir Keir desperately tried to spin the dramatic U-turn as proof of economic success rather than political panic – even as the latest YouGov poll showed Nigel Farage’s Reform UKmaintaining a commanding lead over Labour.
The defiant stance came as Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that anyone earning under £35,000 a year will now receive the winter lifeline – a stark reversal of her controversial July decision that has been blamed for Labour’s catastrophic local election losses and the party’s worst opinion poll ratings in over four decades.
‘No apologies’ as Labour doubles down
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband set the tone early, bluntly telling Times Radio: “We’re not going to apologise for the actions we took to stabilise the economy.”
The comments sparked immediate fury from pensioner groups who accused Labour of being “completely out of touch” with millions of elderly voters struggling with soaring energy bills.
Sir Keir, appearing later on BBC Radio 2, was directly challenged by presenter Jeremy Vine on whether he had “panicked” in the face of political pressure and dire polling numbers.
“No,” the PM replied curtly, before launching into a well-rehearsed defence of the original policy.
“I knew the decision we were taking in the autumn of last year and why we had to take it. But I am really pleased we have now stabilised the economy.
The numbers that forced Labour’s hand
The scale of Labour’s electoral collapse has been breathtaking:
- Reform UK leads Labour by 6 points in the latest Westminster voting intention polls
- Labour slumped to its worst local election performance in over 40 years in May
- The party lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just SIX votes – the closest result in British post-war history
- Labour’s vote share among working-class voters has collapsed to just 20%, with Reform UK leading on 30%
- 65% of Britons now view Labour unfavourably – the highest level since records began
Winter fuel blamed for electoral disaster
The fingerpointing over Labour’s disastrous May local elections has centred squarely on the winter fuel cuts.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the policy made voters feel Labour had “turned its back on them”, while Leeds East MP Richard Burgon called the Runcorn result “entirely avoidable.
Even Labour’s own mayors have broken ranks. Ros Jones, who scraped to re-election in Doncaster by just 700 votes, publicly urged the party to “listen to the people” and pointed directly to winter fuel anger on the doorstep.
The U-turn details
Under the new plans announced by Ms Reeves on Monday:
- 9 million pensioners will now receive payments, up from around 1.5 million under the original means-test
- Anyone with income under £35,000 will qualify
- The reversal will cost £1.25 billion – wiping out most of the £1.4 billion the cuts were meant to save
- Changes will be confirmed at the June spending review
- Payments will be made in time for this winter
Reform UK capitalises on chaos
Nigel Farage wasted no time in claiming credit for forcing Labour’s hand, telling supporters in Wales: “The Labour government are in absolute state of blind panic, they are not quite sure what to do. Reform are leading now much of their agenda.
The Reform UK leader’s boast appears to have merit – his party’s surge in the polls and stunning local election gains, including taking control of Doncaster Council after 15 years of Labour rule, have clearly rattled Number 10.
Reform’s appeal to traditional Labour voters has been devastating, with the party now polling at 30% among working-class C2DE voters compared to Labour’s mere 20%.
Starmer’s three-point plan falls flat
In a desperate attempt to regain the narrative, the PM penned a late-night op-ed in The Times setting out “three key priorities” – but the piece was widely seen as a thinly-veiled attack on left-wing MPs who have spoken out against the government’s direction.
The intervention did little to quell the growing rebellion within Labour ranks, with MPs increasingly anxious about Reform UK’s momentum ahead of the next general election.
Economic claims under scrutiny
Sir Keir’s insistence that the U-turn was driven by economic improvement rather than political pressure has been met with widespread scepticism.
While the PM cited “recent growth figures and falling interest rates“, critics pointed out that energy bills actually rose by £111 in April to around £1,849 a year – hardly the economic success story Labour is trying to sell.
Energy debts across the country have also hit a record high of £3.8 billion, undermining claims that the economy has “stabilised” for ordinary families.
The political damage may be permanent
Political experts warn that Labour’s winter fuel disaster could have lasting consequences.
This has become the defining policy of Starmer’s premiership,” one Westminster insider said. It’s not just about the money – it’s what it says about Labour’s priorities and who they’re willing to throw under the bus.
With Reform UK maintaining its lead in the polls and Labour haemorrhaging support among its traditional base, the partial U-turn may have come too late to repair the damage.
As one furious pensioner put it outside Westminster: “They took it away without a second thought, and now they’re giving some of it back and expecting gratitude? They can forget it.”
The winter fuel saga has exposed the harsh reality facing Sir Keir’s government – a Prime Minister elected with the smallest vote share in history, now trailing in the polls to a party that didn’t exist in Parliament until last year.
For Labour, the winter of discontent may only just be beginning.
Image credit: Starmer visits Barrow 2025-03-20 by UK Government, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons
