West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has slammed the Prime Minister for the ‘chilling’ political choice to remove the Winter Fuel Payment from vulnerable pensioners.

The MP has taken to the floor of the House of Commons to criticise the Labour Government for this proposal and has blasted the Chancellor in a series of exchanges speaking against the removal of the payment.

And today, Dame Harriett also attacked the Prime Minister Keir Starmer and called for him to reverse the unpopular decision.

Yesterday, Fifty Labour MPs abstained in the vote which called for a reverse to the policy which will see some of the most vulnerable people in society choosing to keep their heating off because they are worried about high heating bills.

Dame Harriett said:

“This shameful policy will mean that some of the most vulnerable people in society, living in draughty homes, will lose the emergency payments that keep them safe and warm this Winter.

“I’ve had hundreds of constituents already write to me worried about what this will mean in the coming months and I have taken their views directly to the Government to call on them to review this chilling political decision.

“This choice will risk most directly impacting thousands of people in West Worcestershire who are surviving on lower incomes but do not qualify for pension credit.

“And I made the point to Ministers that if all the people who qualify for Pension Credit now sign up for it, this political choice will have the double whammy of costing the Treasury more than the measure was planned to save.

“It’s a poorly thought-out measure and I’ve called on the Prime Minister and Chancellor to do the right thing and reverse this change now.”