Chancellor it was a colossal mistake was it not to cut the winter fuel payment when we now know that bills are going to rise by 10% in October huge mistake when I became Chancellor of the exer I inherited a 22 billion pounds black hole in the public finances taking no action wasn't an option because that would have made it difficult for the government to finance its uh uh its needs and we would have ended in up in the same position that the previous conservative government ended up in uh with mortgage rates and interest rates spiking and pensions being put in Peril so we had to take difficult decisions in very challenging circumstances because the previous government was overspending by 22 billion just this year alone and we had to take action to get a the public finances this is your decision on your watch at a time when bills are going up by 10% you should have handled this better should the truth is that these are not decisions that I wanted to make but these are decisions we have to make given the inheritance that we Face from the conservative government and there will be more difficult decisions to come in the budget later this year will start reality after the mess that the previous conservative government had left this labor government to inherit it means difficult decisions but without difficult decisions we're going to face serious problems with our public finances I will not take the risk that the conservatives have taken previously that would put our uh economy in danger and would make it difficult to finance government spending on the last question on this particular theme the committee on fuel poverty says that there are people above your threshold that you're now talking about for these payments who are going to need help what are you going to do about this and why can't you just say this was a mistake we were left a £22 billion P black hole for this year in the public finances those are numbers and that was spending covered up by the previous conservative government who during the election campaign made more unfunded commitments we cannot carry on like this and so it's not the decision I wanted to make but it was a decision that I had to make in incredibly challenging circumstances to put our public finances on a firm F50 firm footing I would never take risks in the way that conservatives did with our economic stability and our financial stability because when you take risks with a country's uh Financial stability you go the same way that the previous conservative government did putting huge pressure on family finances with interest rates and mortgage rates spiking and putting pensions in Peril I won't take those risks that required difficult decisions there are more difficult decisions to come in the budget later this year because of the mess for the previous conservative government have left this labor government to pick out the pieces of for