Thank you for following our live coverage. There's plenty more for you to read on the government's winter fuel payment cuts here:

• Winter fuel payment cuts to go ahead after MPs vote
• Will the pensions increase make up for the loss of winter fuel payments?
• State pension set to rise by £460 next year

Today's live page was edited by Emily Atkinson, Nathan Williams and Emily McGarvey. The writers were Sean Seddon, Thomas Copeland, Rachel Flynn, Ali Abbas Ahmadi and Seher Asaf.

We'll be closing our live coverage shortly following this afternoon's vote on the government's winter fuel payment plans. Here's what you need to know:

• The government has comfortably seen off an attempt to block its planned cut to winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners
• A Tory motion designed to block the changes - which will see eligibility for the benefit limited to only the poorest pensioners - was defeated by 348 to 228
• The result showed 52 MPs had no vote recorded, including some ministers. It is not yet known how many of those were abstaining, as some MPs may have been absent for another reason

• The vote followed a fiery debate in the Commons, in which Labour said the change to winter fuel payments was needed because of economic mismanagement by the last government
• The Tories and other parties accused Labour of punishing pensioners and prioritising pay deals for unionised workers

We're starting to hear now from some of the 53 Labour MPs who did not vote on today's motion.

Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan posted on social media, saying: "Unfortunately, I am currently unwell and awaiting surgery, so will be away from Parliament, slipped this week and unable to cast a vote today."

Allin-Khan did not say how she would have voted if she had been present for today's vote.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, says she was unable to vote as she is "still out of the country following my Dad's funeral in Ghana".

But she adds: "If I was able to attend in-person, I would be voting against these cuts."

Labour says numbers not present in today's vote are typicalpublished at 17:17 British Summer Time 10 September

17:17 BST 10 September

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

It is difficult to tell how many Labour MPs who did not vote on the winter fuel allowance actively abstained.

That’s because Members of Parliament can be absent for a number of reasons, such as travel, medical appointments, or official meetings.

They can receive ‘slips’ - or permission - from the party whips to miss the vote. Or be ‘paired’ with someone from the opposing side who also agrees not to vote in order to nullify the effect of their absence.

A Labour source is claiming that only a dozen of the MPs who did not vote on scrapping the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners were “not authorised”.

Labour suggests the numbers not present in today’s vote are typical and say the average number of Labour MPs absent is 51.

That’s their claim. Only by speaking to each individual MP not present can we be sure how many chose not to vote because they oppose removing winter fuel allowance for most pensioners, and how many were away for other reasons.

Away from the winter fuel payment row for a moment, Mel Stride has been knocked out of the Tory leadership race.

The shadow pensions secretary has been vocal against the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment, earlier calling it "absurd".

Four candidates remain in the leadership race. The result of the vote is as follows:

Kemi Badenoch: 28

James Cleverley: 21

Robert Jenrick: 33

Tom Tugendhat: 21

Mel Stride: 16 (eliminated)

Image source, Reuters

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the progress on his policy to cut the winter fuel allowance after the government survived a challenge to its plans in the House of Commons.

Starmer's spokeswoman says: "The prime minister has been clear about the importance of this policy, and while it is not something that he or the chancellor wanted to do, it is necessary as part of our efforts to balance the books and address the £22 billion black hole."

She adds that the government was elected to "restore financial stability and fix the foundations of the country".

The plan to cut the winter fuel allowance is in line with that mandate, she says, and Starmer "welcomes the progress that's made".

Our colleagues at BBC News Northern Ireland have spoken to Mary Small, 73, a pensioner in County Tyrone.

She says cuts on winter fuel payments are "bleak" and she doesn't know how people will cope this winter.

“Everything has gone up, food has gone up, electricity has gone up, some people I know carry a little electric fire around with them from room to room," she says.

“And then if they do away with free transport for pensioners, people won’t be able to afford to get into town and they don’t know how they’re going to pay for a fill of oil, so you just have people eking out their money from week to week, it’s bleak," Mary adds.

• Read more about the reaction to winter fuel payment cuts here

Is £22bn a lot of money?published at 16:42 British Summer Time 10 September

16:42 BST 10 September

By Anthony Reuben

In the debate on winter fuel payment, the Conservative MP Sir Edward Leigh has been suggesting that the £22bn black hole that the Labour government said it found in the public finances for this year is not a lot of money.

“We spend £1,200bn pounds every year”, he said, making the £22bn “a mere accounting device”.

He is right about the figure for annual government spending, which was expected at the time of the Spring Budget to be £1,226bn this year., external

While £22bn is indeed a small proportion of that, Gemma Tetlow from the Institute for Government told the BBC "looking back at history and the amount that the government tends to overspend its budgets in previous years, £22bn would be quite a large number".

• You can read more about it here

Murray adds that the winter fuel payment needs to be means-tested because so many pensioners that receive it do not need it - "that is a reality we cannot afford," he says.

Over a quarter of pensioners have wealth of more than £1 million, half have over £500,000, and a fifth have gross incomes equivalent to £41,600 a year he says.

Tory MP Dame Caroline Dinenage intervenes, saying pensioners are going to feel "saddened" that they are being caricatured as "wealthy, and not in need of this winter fuel support".

MPs will spend the rest of this afternoon debating a Tory opposition day debate - also on the winter fuel payments cut.

Image source, Parliament TV

Following the vote, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray repeats the government's talking points, saying that cutting winter fuel payments is a "difficult decision to have to take".

He says that the Tories know exactly why the government needs to take this step - saying it was they who did "such damage to our country's economy and the public finances".

The legacy of the last government was one of "uncosted commitment after uncosted commitment", he says, repeating that is the reason the Labour government faces a "£22bn black hole" in public finances.

Would Labour’s projected savings be wiped out?published at 16:03 British Summer Time 10 September

16:03 BST 10 September

By Gerry Georgieva

Labour says it wants to increase pension credit take up so that poorer pensioners can still claim the winter fuel payment.

Shadow pensions secretary Mel Stride said it would cost £3.8bn if every eligible household claimed pension credit. He said this was “over twice the money they say they are going to be saving”.

The figure comes from analysis by the Policy in Practice, whereas the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank has a lower estimate - £2.2bn - based on 100% take up.

But Labour hasn’t explicitly said it wants all eligible pensioners to claim pension credit, but it will “do everything in our power to increase take up”.

The IFS also says it is “sceptical that anything close to 100% take up will happen”.

But if everyone did claim it, the analysis does suggest the government’s projected £1.3bn- £1.5bn savings would be wiped out.

Labour has also acknowledged its savings estimate is “sensitive” to pension credit take up.

Image source, UK Parliament

Jon Trickett was the only sitting Labour MP to explicitly rebel and back the Tory motion.

In a statement , externalposted on social media, he said he could not back the government "in good conscience", adding: "I will sleep well tonight knowing that I voted to defend my constituents."

However, we know that dozens of other Labour MPs appear to have abstained, and the Tories were also backed by MPs who were elected under the Labour banner but had been suspended.

We're getting details now of how every MP voted today.

One sitting Labour MP, Jon Trickett, voted for the Conservative motion opposing the cut.

A further five independent MPs who were recently suspended from the Labour Party also backed the Tories - John McDonnell, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne and Zarah Sultana.

And then we have the MPs that didn't vote at all.

What we don't know yet is how many of those MPs decided not to vote in order to show their opposition to the government's plan and how many were absent for other reasons.

A total of 53 Labour MPs didn't vote in today's motion - including Cabinet minister Hilary Benn and veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott.

And another two MPs recently suspended from Labour also didn't cast a vote - Imran Hussain and Rebecca Long Bailey.

Following the vote, shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride calls the winter fuel allowance cut a "complete shock" to pensioners.

He says the proposal's "lack of scrutiny" is "impossible to justify", saying there has been no explanation on why there has been no impact assessments or why the decision was so urgent.

"This is not good governing," he tells the Commons.

Number of abstaining MPs worse than anticipatedpublished at 15:32 British Summer Time 10 September

15:32 BST 10 September

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

We still don’t have a full breakdown of how MPs voted on the winter fuel allowance. Even when we do, there are a variety of reasons why an MP might be absent, rather than it being clear that they abstained to register their discontent with the policy.

Nevertheless - the numbers look slightly worse for the government than most people I spoke to in Westminster this morning were anticipating.

This was Sir Keir Starmer’s second controversial parliamentary vote. For the first, in July, his whips managed to turn out 363 of their MPs to support the maintenance of the two-child benefit cap.

This time that number has fallen. That suggests the number of abstentions was greater.

On the other hand, it is a reminder of Labour’s vast parliamentary strength following the election that perhaps several dozen of their MPs defied the leader in some form, and yet the government still won the vote by a thumping majority of 120.

Even on very controversial issues, the prime minister has a big buffer.

An attempt by the Conservatives to block cuts to the winter fuel allowance has failed, after MPs voted down an opposition motion by 348 to 228.

We'll bring you a full breakdown of the result, including how many Labour MPs refused to support the government, as soon as we have the numbers.

It means the government won the vote with a majority of 120.

We've just heard a very lively debate in the Commons and MPs are now voting on a Tory motion to block the government's changes to winter fuel payment eligibility. While we're waiting for that result, here's a recap of what we've been listening to.

• Government line: Liz Kendall, the pensions secretary, said the country can't afford to pay a benefit to wealthier pensioners, and her department is working to identify those who will be eligible for the payment once they have registered with authorities
• Tory attacks: Mel Stride, the Conservative shadow pensions secretary, called the policy "absurd" and said it will "cause untold hardship to millions"
• Fiery debate: Labour's Meg Hillier - the new Treasury Select Committee chair - said the policy is the result of the "chickens coming home to roost" on the economic policies of the previous government, while Tory MP Dr Caroline Johnson - an NHS consultant - outlined the potential health impacts of the cold on the elderly, warning some "people will die"

• Labour rebellion brewing? Labour's Rachael Maskell said she will abstain, and other MPs from the government's own benches called for changes to the policy. John McDonnell, who is already suspended from Labour for rebelling over the two-child benefit cap, said he would back the Tory motion
• Opposition across House: Liberal Democrat, SNP and DUP MPs all spoke out against the plans during the debate

Becky Morton
Politics reporter

MPs are voting on a Conservative motion calling for the planned cut to winter fuel payments to be blocked.

A number of potential Labour rebels have said they will abstain to show their concern over the policy, rather than vote against the government.

A list of how MPs voted will be available shortly after. But it will not immediately be clear how many actively chose to abstain as we will only see who voted in favour, against and who did not record a vote.

Some MPs may not record a vote because they were unable to attend due to other commitments, for example.

A division has been called by the deputy speaker, and the lobby has been cleared.

MPs are voting on the Conservative motion to block the cut to the winter fuel allowance.

The result is expected at 15:15 BST.

Kendall hits out at the "faux outrage" of the members on the opposite benches, saying it was the Tories who left 880,000 pensioners not getting the pension credit they're entitled to.

"This is not a decision we wanted or expected to make. But when we promised we would be responsible with taxpayers money, we meant it," she says.

She gives way to a Tory MP, who asks Kendall to confirm that that the cost of every eligible person taking up pension credit will be more than the saving from axing the winter fuel payments.

"Is that why members opposite never took the action needed to increase pension credit uptake?" Kendall retorts to loud cheers.

All the savings the chancellor has announced take into account the increased uptake that we want, she says.