Energy price cap: Martin Lewis urges Labour to widen Winter Fuel Payment eligibility amidst significant rise in bills

Campaign groups say energy bills will be 65 per cent higher this winter than before the price shock.

This comes not long after Rachel Reeves dramatically cut back on the number of pensioners receiving the Winter Fuel Payment, first brought in by Gordon Brown under New Labour.

Payments of up to £300 had been made available to everyone above state pension age, to help with the energy crisis after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, from this winter pensioners will only receive a payment if they are receiving pension credit, the Chancellor said, blaming the cut on an apparent £22 billion “black hole” in public finances.

This will reduce the number of pensioners receiving payment from 11.4 million to just 1.3 million.

The cost of living support payments, which Britons received during the energy crisis, have also gone.

The Yorkshire Post has been inundated with letters from readers, who are worried how they will cope this winter. Many say they feel betrayed by Ms Reeves, the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, and the Labour Party.

Sue Cuthbert, a widow in her 80s from Newton on Rawcliffe, wrote in to say the Chancellor must “rethink this decision”.

“People like myself, put the Labour Party in Government,” Ms Cuthbert said.

“I am shocked and disappointed with her attack on pensioners … at the next election there may be a different outcome.”

MoneySavingExpert.com founder Mr Lewis said that while there was a strong argument for means testing the Winter Fuel Payment, Ms Reeves must widen the scope from just those on pension credit.

“The Government must rethink Winter Fuel Payments or almost all pensioners will need to find hundreds of pounds more than last winter,” he said.

“Last year, pensioner homes got up to £300 extra per household cost of living support.

“That’s gone, and its loss alone is far bigger than the saving made by slightly lower rates.

“Piling on top of that is the Government’s new decision to means test Winter Fuel Payments, that will leave all except usually those who claim pension credit missing out on a further £200 to £300.

“While there’s a strong argument for ending the universality of Winter Fuel Payments, eligibility is being squeezed to too narrow a group.

“Those just above the thresholds will be hardest hit.”

Mr Lewis said he is due to meet the Chancellor in a couple of weeks, and would urge her to widen the eligibility to cover all homes in council tax bands A to D.

Conservative leadership candidate James Cleverly told the Yorkshire Post that Labour has acted “without a democratic mandate or proper transparency.”

While fellow hopeful Tom Tugendhat said: “It is the same old Labour, choosing to favour union barons and inflation busting pay rises over protecting our pensioners and investing in tomorrow.”

Ed Miliband, the Energy Security Secretary, said the bill hike “will be deeply worrying news for many families”.

He added: “The expected rise in the price cap is a direct result of the failed energy policy we inherited, which has left our country at the mercy of international gas markets controlled by dictators.

“The only solution to get bills down and greater energy independence is the government’s mission for clean, homegrown power.”

While a Labour spokesperson said that “without action the scale of the inheritance the Tories have left us would have threatened our economic stability”.