PMQs live: Starmer says he wants ‘more pensioners’ to get winter fuel payments in major U-turn | Politics

Starmer pays tribute to Cheryl Korbel, whose campaign helped to persuade the government to change the law to impose new punishments on offenders how refuse to attend court for sentencing. He says he knows how important this is from his conversations with her.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said Starmer “teased the house” with his comments about the winter fuel payments. Will he commit to reversing those cuts in full?

Starmer repeats what he said earlier. (See 12.13pm.)

He repeats the point about wanting to ensure that “more pensioners” are eligible.

Davey says he thinks he welcomes this. And he says he hopes carers also benefit from the improvements to the economy.

He asks about a family where a carer looks after her severely disabled husband and they will lose £12,000 from the cuts.

Starmer says people who need support should continue to get it. But he says the system must be reformed.

Here is Starmer’s full comment on the winter fuel payment in his answer to Sarah Owen. He said:

I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis including pensioners. As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that as we go forward more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.

As you would expect Mr Speaker, we will only make decisions we can afford, that is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event.

Labour MPs jeer at Badenoch as she asks her final question. Some of them are laughing. The Speaker has to intervene to establish order.

Kemi Badenoch has just asked if Keir Starmer is planning to U-turn on winter fuel payments.

She did not seem to appreciate what Starmer said earlier.

Starmer says, as the economy improves, he wants to look at the thresholds.

Badenoch claims Starmer cannot give a straight answer to the question.

(Again, she did not seem to appreciate that he did give a clear. This a classic example of someone not able to take yes for an answer.)

Sarah Owen (Lab) asks what the government will do to help struggling pensions.

Starmer says the economy is improving. As it improves, the government wants to make sure people, including pensioners, feel that difference.

That is why the government wants to ensure “more pensioners” are eligible for winter fuel payments.

He says the government will take decisions at the next fiscal event – ie, at the budget in the autumn.

This is a big U-turn. Two weeks ago Downing Street said flatly the policy was not changing.

(This was after my colleague Pippa Crerar said they were rethinking the policy. Not for the first time, Pippa was right – and what No 10 was saying was wrong.)

UPDATE: Starmer said:

I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis including pensioners. As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that as we go forward more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.

As you would expect Mr Speaker, we will only make decisions we can afford, that is why we will look at that as part of a fiscal event.

Lewis Cocking (Con) asks when the PM will start all illegal immigration into the UK.

Starmer says it was the last government that lost control of the borders. And the Tories voted against legislation giving border officials more powers.

Keir Starmer starts by offering his condolences to the families and friends of the three people killed in the fire in Bicester last week. He says the mother of one of the victims is in the gallery.

He says the government has achieved its third trade deal in three weeks. This will improve people’s lives, he says.

Paul Lewis, the financial broadcaster, says, in a post on social media, that he thinks most of the Angela Rayner proposals for tax rises (see 9.24am) are sensible.

Pension lifetime allowance not sensible; there are better ways to control exploitation of pension tax relief. But the other measures Rayner suggested to Reeves seem very sensible and indeed modest. https://bit.ly/4dB1Q4Y Divi allowance cut by Tories from £5000 to £500

As Chloe Chaplain from the i reports, during her Q&A after her speech Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, played down the impression given by the Angela Rayner memo leak (see 9.24am) that the cabinet is split over taxing the wealthy.

Kendall asked if she agrees with Rayner that instead of cutting spending taxes should be increased on the wealthy.

Says ‘the entire cabinet backs Rachel’s economic strategy’ and adds some people may have forgotten but ‘we actually have raised taxes on some of the richest’

Here is the order paper for PMQs, with the names of MPs down to get a question.