Ed Miliband defends winter fuel payment U-turn

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has defended Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ original decision to cut winter fuel payments and the subsequent partial U-turn.

He told the BBC the chancellor would not apologise for withdrawing the payment from more than 10 million pensioners last year, arguing that she had to take measures to stabilise the economy.

He said the decisions she had taken last year had created “room for manoeuvre” enabling her to extend the payment to more pensioners this coming winter.

Miliband said the move would cost “a relatively small amount of money” and would be accounted for in the Budget but the Conservatives said ministers did not know how it would be funded.

Last July, the government announced it would be withdrawing the payment, worth up to £300 per year, from more than 10…