Sir Keir Starmer found himself on the backfoot when challenged on the issue yesterday, describing it as a “choice we had to make”.
Expat pensioners will remain eligible for the £300 winter fuel allowance even after it is stripped away from millions of people living in the UK, it has been revealed.
Up to 35,000 older people living on the Continent will pocket the cash even if they exceed Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ new wealth threshold – because their rights are guaranteed by the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The Daily Telegraph’s revelation will stoke the controversy over Ms Reeves’s controversial move to withdraw the payment from everyone who is not in receipt of benefits.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced to defend the proposals during a speech in the Rose Garden of Downing Street, insisting he “didn’t want to means-test” the payment, and seeking to frame it as a “choice we had to make” to help “repair the public finances”.
Age UK’s online petition opposing the plan, which it warns has the potential to leave two million pensions “in serious trouble”, has just hit 450,000 signatures.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the move was a ‘choice we had to make’ (Image: GETTY)
Ministers last week unveiled emergency legislation due to come into force in the middle of next month which will stop the payment for 10 million pensioners, saving the Government roughly £1.4 billion annually.
As a result, just 1.5 million retirees who receive Pension Credit or another form of means-tested benefit will get the cash.
The deal covers eligible EU residents except those living in France, Spain, Cyprus, and Malta, plus those living in Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Government figures for 2022-23, the most recent data available, show just under 36,000 expats were in receipt of the payout.
Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty)
Their rights are guaranteed by EU rules on the export of benefits, which remain in force, as opposed to domestic policy.
The Government is understood to be planning a review of what is classed as a benefit in April 2025, to consider whether the winter fuel allowance should be covered in the future.
Department of Work and Pensions guidance states that people living outside the UK are only eligible for the payment if they moved to an eligible country before January 1, 2021, were born before September 23, 1958, and have a “genuine and sufficient link the UK”.
Speaking yesterday, Sir Keir said: “I didn’t want to means-test the winter fuel payment.
“But it was a choice that we had to make, a choice to protect the most vulnerable pensioners while doing what is necessary to repair the public finances.”
He added: “I would say it’s not a particularly well-designed scheme, frankly – I think everybody would concede that.
“I do think it’s important that we make sure the support is there for those pensioners who need it most, which is why we’re pushing for the Pension Credit to be taken up and looking at other allowances.”
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, is one of a number of Labour politicians who has urged the Government to think again.
Lord Foulkes has described the move as a ‘terrible blunder’ (Image: Getty)
She said: “It is vital that the Winter Fuel Payment regulations are withdrawn and amended as older people need to be kept warm and well this winter,” she said.
“Labour must bring forward a package of support that will protect the most vulnerable.”
Lord Foulkes, a former minister under Sir Tony Blair, has described the decision as a “terrible blunder”.
