State pension warning as 11 million pensioners face cut

Eleven million people could see their state pensions slashed if means-testing is introduced, Labour has claimed as it battles with the Tories for the support of pensioners.

Labour has accused Tory leader Kemi Badenoch of having a “cruel plan to means-test pensions” which it says could “cut hundreds of pounds from the incomes of those in retirement”.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party has been under attack for axing universal winter fuel payments for pensioners and has jumped at the opportunity to turn its guns on the Tories. It has seized on comments in which Mrs Badenoch said her party is “going to look at means-testing”.

Pensioners are the group most likely to support the Conservatives so Labour will grasp opportunities to peel away voters. According to YouGov, 42% of women aged 65-plus who took part in the last election voted Conservative, compared with 6% of females aged 18-24.

The Conservatives have accused Labour of “skewing her words for political gain and lying about what she said”.

But Labour says that because 1.4million pensioner households receive pension credit this “leaves more than 11 million pensioners at risk of having their pension cut”. It adds that for pensioners on “middle incomes” benefits including the state pension “make up around 50 per cent of their total weekly income.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Badenoch should urgently come clean on how much her plan will hit families.”

But a Conservative spokeswoman said: “We wish the Work and Pensions Secretary well in voting to cut the winter fuel payment for over 10,000 pensioners in her constituency, forcing them to choose between heating and eating. This decision has put lives at risk and pensioners will not forget it.”

Sir Keir’s party remains under intense pressure for its treatment of pensioners.

Writing in the Sunday Express, Dennis Reed of campaign group Silver Voices says the evidence suggests Sir Keir Starmer’s party is waging an “undeclared war on older people”.

He said that the appointment of Torsten Bell as pensions minister filled him with “dread about the future of our state pension, as Bell is a well-known opponent of the triple lock”.

The triple lock ensures pensions rise by whichever is highest – inflation, average wage growth, or 2.5%. Mrs Badenoch this week accused rival parties of “pretending we’re cancelling the triple lock” because they are “scared”.

She said: “Labour punished poor pensioners, snatching away winter fuel payments due to poor means testing.”