Winter fuel payments U-turn likely to lead to higher taxes or other welfare cuts, says IFS director – UK politics live | Politics
By: Andrew Sparrow | Published: 2025-06-09 15:59:00 | Source: www.theguardian.com
Winter fuel payments U-turn likely to lead to higher tax, or alternative benefit cuts, says IFS director
The Treasury says restoring the winter fuel payments for most pensioners will cost around £1.25bn in England and Wales. It says:
The costs will be accounted for at the budget and incorporated into the next OBR forecast. The chancellor will take decisions on funding in the round at that forecast to ensure the government’s non-negotiable fiscal rules are met. This will not lead to permanent additional borrowing.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, says ‘no extra borrowing’ means ‘higher taxes, or welfare cuts’.
The corollary of “this will not lead to permanent additional borrowing” is that it will lead to permanent additional taxes (or just…
