The government has confirmed that it will not reverse its decision to remove winter fuel payments for pensioners who are not receiving pension credit, despite criticism from some groups.
Speaking on the BBC Breakfast, Lucy Powell, Leader of the House, stated that the government had to make “really difficult decisions” due to the country’s financial situation.
Ms Powell explained that the deficit and spending levels were higher than expected, which required action to avoid economic instability.
“If we hadn’t taken that action, we’d have seen a run on the pound,” she said.
“We’d have seen the economy crashing and the people who pay the heaviest price for that are the poorest and pensioners and those on fixed income.”
Ms Powell acknowledged that removing the payments would make things harder for some pensioners but stressed that the decision was necessary to find savings in the current financial year.
She added that the government remains committed to the triple lock, which guarantees that the state pension will rise by inflation, average earnings, or 2%, whichever is higher, meaning pensioners will see their state pension increase over this parliament.
