Sir Keir Starmer has defended stopping all pensioners receiving the winter fuel payment, amid warnings it could create a “public health emergency”.

The Prime Minister used a speech in Downing Street’s rose garden to claim he “didn’t want to means-test” the payment, but said it was a “choice we had to make” to help “repair the public finances”.

The Government’s policy will stop winter fuel payments for people in England and Wales who are not in receipt of Pension Credit or other means-tested benefits.

That policy is expected to reduce the number of pensioners in receipt of the up to £300 payment by 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving some £1.4 billion this financial year.

Flowers in the foreground as Sir Keir Starmer stands behind a podium delivering a speech in the rose garden at 10 Downing Street
Sir Keir Starmer said difficult decisions have to be taken after the last government left a black hole in the public’s finances (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Sir Keir said there is a need to be “honest with people about the choices that we face”, adding: “Things will get worse before they get better.”

He said: “I didn’t want to means-test the winter fuel payment, but it was a choice that we had to make, a choice to protect the most vulnerable pensioners while doing what is necessary to repair the public finances.”

Charity Age UK said it “strongly” opposes means-testing the payment because it means “as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in serious trouble as a result”.

Told about this warning, Sir Keir said: “So far as the winter fuel allowance is concerned, firstly I would say it’s not a particularly well-designed scheme, frankly – I think everybody would concede that.

“I do think it’s important that we make sure the support is there for those pensioners who need it most, which is why we’re pushing for the Pension Credit to be taken up and looking at other allowances.”

Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “The winter fuel payment axe 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 NHS and, in some cases, can result in additional winter deaths.

“Ending energy debt, extending the household support fund, expanding warm home discounts and evolving standing charges are all now needed urgently to help mitigate the impact of high bills and the axe to the winter fuel payment.”

The new rules are due to come into force on September 16.

The Conservatives have urged ministers to back down on their policy and are seeking to challenge the regulations in the Commons, although the Government has a working majority of 167.