Keir Starmer is ‘running scared’ at the growing backlash over his plans to axe winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners, the Tories said last night.

As Parliament returned after its summer break, the Prime Minister warned panicking Labour MPs that he would not tolerate dissent over the raid on the elderly, saying he would be ‘really tough on this’.

In a move which has infuriated opposition MPs, government sources indicated ministers would reject calls for a Commons debate and vote on the controversial plan, which was pushed through during the summer while Parliament was in recess.

Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have pushed for a vote on the issue. But the sources said there was no need for a vote as the contentious regulations had already gone through and will come into force unscrutinised in a fortnight.

A growing number of Labour MPs are uneasy over the plan, which will cost millions of pensioners up to £300 this winter. Only the poorest pensioners will receive the payment.

Tory leadership candidate Mel Stride said ministers appeared to be terrified of exposing divisions in Labour’s ranks over the issue.

‘Labour are running scared,’ he said. ‘Not only do they want to block Parliament having a say on their plans, they have not published an impact assessment as they want to hide the true costs to pensioners.

‘There is no reason not to grant this debate and vote on this other than to ride roughshod over Parliament – the only reason Labour aren’t granting one is because they are running scared of asking their own MPs to vote on this. Labour know axing the winter fuel payment is the wrong thing to do. They’ve made this choice and they cannot defend it.’

The decision to means-test the payment was unveiled in late July by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who said savings were needed to help fill an alleged £22 billion ‘black hole’ left in the public finances by the previous government.

Commons leader Lucy Powell faced ridicule at the weekend after suggesting the £1.4 billion saving had been essential to prevent a ‘run on the pound’.

Julian Jessop, economic fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank, said: ‘This is idiotic. Claiming this was necessary to prevent a run on the pound is just daft.’ Left-wing economist Jonathan Portes described the claim as ‘total bull**** scaremongering’.

Only a handful of Labour MPs have spoken out publicly against the cut, but dozens more are thought to have raised concerns privately after being bombarded with angry complaints from constituents.

Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jordan yesterday tabled a Commons motion calling for the plan to be shelved, saying ministers need to ‘acknowledge the worrying annual excess winter death figures among pensioners’.

Labour peer Lord Sikka condemned the lack of debate – and warned the plan would save little, if any, money once the cost of treating pensioners hit by the cold had been factored in.

But Sir Keir indicated he would not back down.

Asked whether rebel MPs could be disciplined, he told BBC Radio Five Live: ‘I’m really tough on this… We were elected on a mandate of change. We’re elected to take tough decisions and bring about the change this country needs over five years.

‘We will not be able to do that if we don’t do the tough stuff now. It’s not easy. And I understand why it feels difficult, but it’s got to be done.’ He warned there were more ‘tough decisions to come’ in next month’s Budget.

On a visit to a primary school in Orpington, Kent, the Prime Minister defended the cut, telling reporters: ‘We have found a £22 billion black hole in the economy. We’ve got to fix it. What we’re not going to do is pretend it isn’t there or paper over it. That’s what the last government did and it made it worse. That means we’ve got to make tough choices.

‘I don’t want to cut the winter fuel allowance… but we’ve got to fix the foundations of our economy and… then, having done that, we can build a better future that pensioners and so many other people voted for in this election.’

Almost half a million people have signed an Age UK petition on the issue, with hundreds of thousands signing similar petitions from other groups.

The Conservatives yesterday launched their own petition urging the Government to reverse the move. Rishi Sunak said: ‘Under the Conservatives, all pensioners received winter fuel support. It was the right thing to do and I’m proud we did it.

‘It’s Labour’s choice to now end that support. If you disagree then help us stop it.’

Dennis Reed, of campaign group Silver Voices, said: ‘It seems like the new Government is using this as a virility test to show how tough they are – they think older people are a soft target. But the more they double down, the less sense it makes.

‘Rachel Reeves now says they had to do this to put the economy on the right footing, Lucy Powell says there might have been a run on the pound if they didn’t. It is ridiculous. This is a lot of money to millions of pensioners but it is small beer in terms of the public finances – and a lot less than is being spent on public sector pay rises.

‘The more they come out with this stuff, the more angry people are getting.’