Former Labour frontbencher hits out as Starmer faces backlash over winter fuel cuts
The IndependentSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A former frontbencher has hit out at the government’s plans to strip the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners as Sir Keir Starmer faces a growing Labour backlash over the issue. The chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the cuts earlier this year, saying they were necessary to fill a £22bn black hole in the nation’s finances left by the last Conservative government. The Labour MP for Poole, Neil Duncan-Jordan, has also tabled a Commons motion calling for the government to delay the move, saying it would result in a "bureaucratic and unpopular means test" for older people. Keir Starmer visited a primary school in Orpington on Monday but faced media questions about his winter fuel plan Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has accused ministers of being "dishonest" about the state of the public finances, and claimed Labour is trying to "pull the wool over the eyes of the British public".