A Cabinet minister squirmed today as he refused to guarantee pensioners will not die of cold due to the winter fuel payment cut.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was put on the spot as he toured broadcast studios ahead of a crunch vote on the plans this afternoon.
The government is facing a revolt by dozens of Labour MPs amid mounting fury about the policy.
Although Keir Starmer’s huge majority means the result is not in doubt, it is being seen as an important test of the premier’s control over his troops.
Asked on Sky News to promise that no pensioners will die of cold as a result of the Government’s move, Mr Reynolds said: ‘No-one should die of cold in this country.’
Pressed again for a guarantee, Mr Reynolds said: ‘I can guarantee we’re doing everything we can to make sure that not only the state pension is higher and everyone is better off but that support is targeted where it needs to be.’
Mr Reynolds then scrambled to clarify his position when asked the same question in a later interview, saying: ‘No. We are making sure that we can reassure people by saying the state pension is higher than last winter and energy bills are lower than last winter.’
Mr Reynolds was also forced to deny jibes from unions that Chancellor Rachel Reeves was behaving like the ‘Grinch’.
Mr Reynolds was confronted with remarks made by RMT general secretary Mick Lynch at the TUC conference yesterday, where he said that Ms Reeves would be likened to the Grinch.
‘I don’t think that that is fair in any way,’ the minister told LBC.
‘What we have been able to do is first of all be serious about decisions that the previous government has sat on… it’s nothing like the kind of austerity that we saw under George Osborne.
‘It is a recognition that where the previous government has made commitments that it can’t honour, you’ve got to be responsible within there.’
Ministers have been pointing to an expected £460 rise in the state pension next year in a bid to defuse the row.
Official figures typically used to set the increase in April showed earnings going up by 4 per cent.
Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have been highlighting the prospect of a hike to offset the loss of up to £300 from the winter fuel allowance.
The PM is due to speak at the TUC conference in Brighton this morning before the vote in Parliament.
Ms Reeves last night told panicking Labour MPs she would not back down – and suggested pensioners could afford to tighten their belts this winter.
The Chancellor said she did not ‘relish’ the cut, but warned there would be ‘more difficult decisions to come’ in next month’s Budget.
Ministers have refused to publish an assessment of the likely impact of the cut, which will save £1.5billion a year.
The ‘triple lock’ means the state pension rises by the highest out of earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent. For April the earnings figure will almost certainly be the top figure.
A 4 per cent increase would mean the full state pension for men born after 1951 and women born after 1953 hitting £11,962.50 next year.
That comes after a £900 increase last year.
The final decision will be made by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall ahead of the Budget next month, but Ms Reeves has been emphasising her commitment to the mechanism.
Touring broadcast studios this morning, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds refused to guarantee that no pensioners would die of cold as a result of the Government’s move.
‘No-one should die of cold in this country,’ the minister told Sky News.
Repeatedly asked whether he could guarantee that not one pensioner would die of cold, Mr Reynolds said: ‘I can guarantee we’re doing everything we can to make sure that not only the state pension is higher and everyone is better off but that support is targeted where it needs to be.’
The Cabinet is ‘absolutely’ united behind the decision, he insisted.
In a message to Labour MPs, Mr Reynolds said: ‘We’ve got to be the team that fixes this country. Don’t rely on your colleagues to make the difficult decisions that are necessary.’
A new assessment by the Resolution Foundation think-tank yesterday warned that 1.3million of the poorest pensioners would be driven deeper into poverty by the move.
Former Labour frontbencher Richard Burgon said the plan ‘will result in the death of pensioners who won’t be able to turn the heating on’.
Tory work and pensions spokesman Mel Stride urged Labour to listen to their constituents.
Throwing down the gauntlet to Labour MPs, he said: ‘Do as you said you would and put the country before your party. Vote with us in Parliament, not against us.
‘Change course and reverse your cruel choice to remove the winter fuel payment from millions of vulnerable pensioners.
‘Many driven into fuel poverty this winter will have to choose between heating and eating because of Starmer. And, if Labour MPs let this abhorrent policy go through, it will be because of them too.’
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, cautioned the rise in the state pension will only partially offset the pain for the millions of pensioners who are being stripped of their winter fuel allowance.