‘Struggled with the weight!’ Tory MPs deliver hefty petition protesting ‘grossly unfair’ Winter Fuel cuts and tell Rachel Reeves she has ‘chance’ to U-turn

Speaking to GB News, Stride said: "They struggled with the weight of the petition, actually, because it's over a quarter of a million signatories and our Conservative Party petition calling on the government and Rachel Reeves tomorrow in particular, to scrap this means testing of the Winter Fuel Payment.

"It means 10 million pensioners losing out, and two thirds of those pensioners below the poverty level will lose this benefit. And we don't believe that's right."

He added: "What we do know is right now these are political choices. So this government, this Labour government took the decision to spend billions of pounds on over inflationary wage increases for their trade union paymasters.

"They've done it on the backs, in part at least, of pensioners some of whom are very vulnerable."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Reform UK ramps up council election efforts as deadline for Tory councillors to defect looms
• 'Now we know the truth - this is the Government of the public sector, for the public sector'
• British drivers overwhelmingly reject pay-per-mile car taxes and fuel duty hikes ahead of Budget

Asked if he ever thought about making this move during his time in Government, Stride explained: " So inevitably around all fiscal events, everything gets looked at.

"I never came anywhere near taking a decision like this. It's just totally the wrong thing to do.

"As I said earlier, you know, two thirds of those pensioners that are below the poverty line are actually going to miss out on this benefit.

"We've just seen the energy price cap is about to go up by 10 per cent. At the same time as we're making these cuts there are pensioners out there now who are going to have to take that decision between heating and eating, and we really need to see this policy reversed. Tomorrow is Rachel Reeves chance to do just that."

Labour has defended the decision to means-test Winter Fuel Payments as necessary to fill a financial 'black hole', with projected savings of £1.4billion this year alone.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves acknowledged it was a "difficult choice' but blamed the "difficult circumstances" on the previous government.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC: "We can't bring about that change if we don't fix the fundamentals and stabilise our economy."

He added that inflation and energy bills had hit pensioners hardest in recent years.

However, the move has faced criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.

Former PM Rishi Sunak accused the Government of prioritising "train drivers over pensioners", while Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham urged a U-turn on the policy.

The Winter Fuel Payment is currently a universal benefit for pensioners, providing between £200 and £300 depending on age.

It was introduced by Labour in 1997 and expanded to all pensioners in 2000.