LABOUR’S “attack on pensioners” would leave older people almost £1,000 worse off as temperatures drop for winter.

Campaigners fear the vulnerable and the elderly will be forced to cut back on food and heating, while struggling with the anxiety of paying their bills, if Chancellor Rachel Reeves continues to target them in next month’s Budget.

They have warned of further “hammer blows” on top winter fuel payment cuts will push many to the ‘breaking point’. It has emerged that Sir Keir Starmers government could introduce a “widows tax” by scrapping the single person’s 25 per cent council tax discount.

The Treasury has refused to rule this out, insisting “tough decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax” to fix a “£22bn black hole”. In response, former pensions minister Baroness Altmann warned: “Abolishing the single person tax credit would be a tax on widows and widowers left alone in a family home.”

The loss of the 25 per cent discount would cost pensioners in a band D property up to £543.

Ten million pensioners to lose their winter fuel allowance of up to £300 and a rise in the energy price cap
will push the average household’s bills up by £149. Overall, pensioners could be £992 worse off.

Caroline Abrahams, from Age UK, said: “Many older people are worried by the news that they are losing their winter fuel paymentso we sincerely hope there will be no more nasty surprises.”

Warning that pensioners are “terrified” of what could be on the way, she said: “The Government’s decision to brutally means test winter fuel payments came out of the blue and as a complete shock, so it is not surprising that some older people say to Age Britain that they are afraid of what they might do next.”

Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick said: “Under Labour, pensioners could be almost £1,000 a year worse off, which for many is a cost they simply cannot afford.

“Keir’s war on pensioners puts Labour’s own political interests above any sense of right and wrong.”

Eamonn Donaghy, from Later Life Ambitions, which represents more than 250,000 older people, called on ministers to talk to pensioners about whether a tax rise is coming.

He said: “By refusing to confirm the status of the Singles Discount, the Government is creating uncertainty and stress on an already depleted pensioner population.

“Older people worry about how they will cope when they winter fuel payment drawn into the economy at breaking point if another benefit is taken from them. This government risks appearing at best to be deaf and at worst downright indifferent if they do not reverse what feels like an attack on pensioners and their finances.”

James Cleverlyanother of the Tory leadership candidates, said Labor was “picking the pockets of pensioners and widows” because they have “raised the pay of their union bosses” and “now have to find a way to fund it”. Fellow candidate Tom Tugendhat also attacked the Prime Minister and Chancellor, saying: “Starmer and Reeves have made a clear choice to leave our pensioners, who have worked hard all their lives and paid into the system, £1,000 poorer and more vulnerable this winter.”

And Tory MP Saqib Bhatti accused the Chancellor of staging a “bonfire of support for the most vulnerable”.

Sir Keir’s government last week won a vote to cap winter fuel payments but campaigners warn older voters will not forget the controversial decision.

“We have long memories,” says Dennis Reed of Silver Voices.

He urged the government not to scrap the tax credit, saying: “This really needs to be stopped because it would be a hammer blow to older people, especially those who have recently been widowed.”

Conservative MP Louie French, who challenged the Prime Minister in Parliament last week on the issue, said: “It is unfair and unaffordable to ask single pensioners and in many cases widows to pay more while Labor cruelly takes away winter fuel payment with little notice.”

Former Labor minister Jeff Rooker, now a member of the House of Lords, said: “Abolishing 25 per cent council tax
discount for single residents without reforming council tax would be political immaturity of a very high order.”

The discount for a single person on a band D home is £543 in Gateshead, £539
in Nottingham and £523 in Bristol.

It is £521 in Walsall, £519 in Northumberland and £511 in Liverpool.

Campaigners continue to press the government to reverse the decision on winter fuel payments and the revelation that
That 71 percent of pensioners with disabilities – 1.6 million people – will lose the benefit has only increased the concern.

The figure is part of an assessment made by the government which it has now published in response to a freedom of information request.

It shows that 83 per cent of those aged over 80 will lose the payment, as will 90 per cent of those aged 66 to 79.

Laura Trott, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The publication of these analyzes is a damning indictment of the entire Labor Government.

“Not only do these reports confirm that thousands of pensioners will suffer this winter as a result of Rachel Reeves’ cold-hearted decision, but they were also hidden until after Labor forced its MPs to vote through this cut. It is an absolute disgrace. Labor has cut winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners who know the dire consequences, but they won’t be able to hide from the consequences. We will take them to task every step of the way.”

The MND confederation has also called on the government to reconsider.

Forty MPs from eight parties signed a letter to the chancellor warning that motor neurone disease “causes significant muscle wasting, reducing the body’s natural insulation and making it much more difficult to retain heat”. Saying that households affected by the disease face “astronomical energy bills during the winter”, they say: “We are deeply concerned that the means test processes that will now be used to determine eligibility for winter fuel payments do not take these unavoidable costs into account.”

Joanna Elson, of Independent Age, said: “It is vital that the forthcoming Budget does not include measures that risk plunging older people on low incomes further into financial hardship.”

A spokeswoman for the Treasury said: “Following the spending review, the Chancellor has been clear that it is difficult
Decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and tackle the £22bn hole inherited by this Government.

“Decisions on how to do that will be made in the budget during the round.”