Image source, EPA

We're now hearing the first response from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

In a post on X, she calls Keir Starmer's U-turn on the winter fuel policy "humiliating".

She says her party "repeatedly warned" him to "reverse his callous decision... and every time he arrogantly dismissed me".

"Pensioners were forced to choose between heating and eating last winter. Starmer should apologise to them."

Continuing to take questions from various reporters, the chancellor says the winter fuel payment will continue to be means-tested - but the broadening of eligibility criteria means more pensioners will receive it.

"We will not go back to the universal system. I don't think it's right that the very richest pensioners had their fuel bill subsidised," she explains.

• For context: The new rules mean the payment is now available to everyone over the state pension age in England and Wales with an annual income of, or below, £35,000.

We've just seen the chancellor answering questions from reporters, less than half an hour after outlining the government's U-turn on winter fuel payments.

She says the government has listened to people's concerns about the decision last year to means-test the allowance.

The Treasury has been able to widen eligibility due to the "stability" the government has brought to the economy, she says.

Reeves adds that the detail of how the change in policy will be costed will come in the autumn Budget.

Image source, PA Media

• July 2024: Labour announces plans to introduce a means-tested cap to the winter fuel payment - previously paid to all pensioners in England and Wales - meaning millions were no longer eligible for the pension top-up
• September 2024: A Conservative motion attempting to block the cuts was debated in Parliament - but the majority of MPs sided with the government
• Winter 2024: More than 10 million pensioners lost out on the payment, worth up to £300, with some telling the BBC they felt "cast aside" by the government and others taking out credit cards to manage their finances
• 1 May 2025: Labour suffers a number of losses at local elections across England - some MPs and councillors blamed the policy for the party's performance
• 6 May 2025: The government insists it won't reverse cuts to winter fuel payments, despite growing calls within Labour to rethink the policy

• 21 May 2025: Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces plans to ease the cuts but gives no further details, including how many will regain their entitlement or when the changes will take effect
• 9 June 2025: Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirms the changes, with more than three-quarters of pensioners in England and Wales now set to receive the payment - a major U-turn from the cuts she set out last year

Image source, Reuters

Here is the full statement from Chancellor Rachel Reeves, shared with us by the Treasury:

“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.

“But we have now acted to expand the eligibility of the winter fuel payment so no pensioner on a lower income will miss out.

"This will mean over three quarters of pensioners receiving the payment in England and Wales later this winter.”

Labour moves to rectify what many see as its biggest misstep - but is it too little too late?published at 12:05 British Summer Time 9 June

12:05 BST 9 June

Chris Mason
Political editor

The final act in this slow motion U-turn has played out.

The arc of this row runs to almost a year. It was late July last year when I was among a bunch of reporters called into the Treasury to question the then new chancellor about her out of blue policy to take the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners.

Ever since, Labour MPs have grumbled they’ve been taking heat for it.

Two and a half weeks ago the prime minister said the threshold would be moving. Last week the chancellor said the new recipients would get it this coming winter. We now know who will qualify and who will have to pay it back.

A couple of thoughts: could the government have done just this in the first place? Some privately say absolutely. Others say there was genuinely real concern in the Treasury about the state of the books and they felt compelled to do something to reduce so called "in year" costs.

Secondly: once they decided to move, they have moved pretty quickly, albeit announcing the U-turn in iterative steps, one week after another.

We are not being kept waiting until the Budget in the autumn, or even the Spending Review on Wednesday - here we have it, the new threshold.

So, how will the government pay for it? It is projected to cost £1.25bn. Ministers say there won’t be a "permanent" increase in borrowing. So how much borrowing will there be, and for how long? And which other budgets may be squeezed as a result?

For many within Labour, this whole debacle was the single biggest misstep of the party’s first year in office - they will now hope to put it behind them. But it’s one of those things forever likely to remain in the biography of this government, with questions asked of Rachel Reeves about it.

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

This latest announcement by the UK government affects pensioners in England and Wales, but as promised in our last post - here's how Scotland and Northern Ireland responded to this policy when it was introduced last year.

The Scottish government has already announced plans for a new winter heating payment "for every single Scottish pensioner" to be introduced ahead of winter 2025.

Pensioners in Scotland in receipt of qualifying benefits, such as Pension Credit, will receive payments of £200 or £300 depending on their age, while other households will receive £100.

Holyrood also announced some extra council funding for welfare, as well as additional money for the Warmer Homes Scotland Scheme, external.

In Northern Ireland, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons previously said funding constraints meant the Stormont government also had to change its rules.

He later said affected pensioners would receive of one-off payment of £100 to help with heating costs.

Rachel Reeves has announced changes to the winter fuel payment - here's the finer detail:

Who’s eligible this winter? Everyone over the state pension age in England and Wales with an income of, or below, £35,000 a year. Scotland and Northern Ireland announced their own updates in light of the government's cuts last year - we'll bring you more on that in our next post.

How many people will benefit? The government puts the figure at nine million - or more than 75% of pensioners across the two countries.

How much will be paid? As before, £200 per household with a pensioner under 80, or £300 per household where there is someone over 80, will be made automatically.

What’s changed? Following cuts last year, the payment was limited to those receiving pension credit or another means-tested benefit, which meant millions of older people missed out.

More than three-quarters of pensioners in England and Wales will now be entitled to the winter fuel payment, Rachel Reeves has just announced, in a major U-turn on one of the government's first - and most controversial - policies.

Last July, Reeves announced cuts to the winter fuel payment - a lump sum of £200 a year for households with a pensioner under 80, or £300 for households with a pensioner over 80 - in a bid to save an estimated £1.4bn.

It drew widespread criticism, including from within Starmer's own party.

We'll have more details, including what the chancellor has said, in our next few posts. Stay with us.