Brazen Rachel Reeves insists she was ‘proper’ to chop winter gas | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Rachel Reeves has tried to experience out the humiliation of yesterday’s Winter Fuel u-turn by insisting her preliminary reduce was the “right decision”. It got here after months of refusing to budge on the reduce, which left thousands and thousands of previous folks struggling to warmth their properties this previous Christmas.

Ms Reeves insisted: “Targeting winter fuel payments was a tough decision, but the right decision because of the inheritance we had been left by the previous government. It is also right that we continue to means test this payment so that it is targeted and fair, rather than restoring eligibility to everyone including the wealthiest.”

The new coverage will imply any retiree with an revenue of £35,000 or much less might be entitled to the £200-a-year, up from the present threshold of simply £11,500.

The change is ready to value £1.25 billion, however has now opened the door to calls for for the Chancellor to u-turn on different unpopular insurance policies such because the Family Farms tax and the 2 baby profit cap.

The Treasury insisted that the u-turn wouldn’t result in a “permanent rise in borrowing”, nevertheless this was shot down by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Director Paul Johnson mentioned: “It wouldn’t even be in the top 100 of things that I would do with my £1.25bn if I wanted to act on poverty.

“Almost none of the people impacted by this will be in poverty. Most of them will be at least as well-off as the average in the population. We know that poverty is much worse among families with children than it is with pensioners.”

He added that the u-turn will imply “permanent additional taxes”.

While Ms Reeves refused to apologise yesterday, she informed the Express she “understood” and has “listened to [the] concerns” of voters.

She informed this paper: “I think Express readers can see the state of the economy, can see the state of the public finances that this Labour government inherited last year.

“It meant a number of difficult decisions on welfare, on spending and on tax to restore stability to the public finances.”

However opposition events together with the Tories, LibDems and Reform had been scathing about Labour’s failure.

Speaking in Port Talbot yesterday, Nigel Farage heaped reward on the Express’s winter gas campaign.

Holding up a Daily Express entrance web page as he held a press convention in Port Talbot, Wales, he mentioned: “I think we can claim some credit, with this Express headline from last week.

“And well done the Express for splashing it, and I think we have made the political weather on this one.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the government would not have u-turned on this had it not been for the pressure Reform UK is putting on them.”