CIA starmer's decision to actx Winter fuel payments to help fill a budget black hole has the potential to create a public health emergency campaigners have warned the Prime Minister prepared the way for tax hikes and spending cuts by saying the upcoming budget will be painful for millions of Britains but the government was warned pensioners should not be in the front line for financial pain caused by the cutbacks Charities explained how some will face the devastating choice between heating their homes and ing as energy bills rise in the winter fuel payment is means tested during a speech and press conference in the Downing Street Rose Garden cier said he was trying to tackle a rot in the nation and stressed he didn't want to cut Universal cold weather payments for 10 million pensioners but Simon Francis coordinator of the N fuel poverty Coalition said the winter fuel payment tax is not about rot in the system it is about basic fairness for older people facing soaring energy bills in real terms the changes this winter mean that some older people will face the highest energy bills on record this has the potential to create a public health emergency which will actually create more pressure on the Under Pressure NHS which the Prime Minister says he wants to fix the impact of living in cold damp homes is particularly harsh on those older people with a disability a long-term health condition or with poor mental health it results in people turning to the en HS and in some cases can result in additional winter deaths do chancellor Rachel Reeves has estimated that scrapping the winter fuel benefit will save taxpayers one pound 4 billion a Year Dot the Prime Minister and Miss Reeves have come under Fire for handing out inflation busting pay Rises worth up to 10 billion to millions of public sector workers Downing Street said it was a false economy to suggest such increases could have been avoided amid a recruitment and retention crisis in many of Britain's public services but critics slammed the government for prioritizing the demands of their Trade union pay masters and laying the ground work for huge tax Rises Tory leadership front ranok KY Bok said geia starma is taking the British public for fools but his dishonest analysis W wash he campaigned on promises he couldn't deliver and now he is being found out at the election stammer and his Energy Secretary told us energy bills would go down under labor 6 weeks later they are going up to make matters worse he is removing the winter fuel payment many pensioners rely on to pay those bills of course we made some mistakes in government but remarkably labor are doubling down on those mistakes from immigration to Net Zero policy worse still they are prioritizing the demands of their Trade union pay masters over investment in public services the truth truth is that gear starma is managing voters expectations for a decade of decline a conservative party led by me will not let him get away with it we will be ready to take on labor with a renewed vision for a better country in 2030 do Shadow Home Secretary James cleverly who is also running to be the next Tory leader added more meaningless Dil from gear starma today as he tries to distract from his latest cronyism role he says he wants to serve people all he is serving them attacks Rises the conservatives left labor with low inflation falling migration and the highest growth in the G7