Rishi Sunak: Keir Starmer has made a cowardly choice to put union bosses before pensioners

To govern is to choose. And Sir Keir Starmer is choosing to take the Winter Fuel Payment from vulnerable pensioners to fund an inflation-busting pay rise for well-paid train drivers.

It is the wrong choice.

Today, Labour MPs will have the chance to stand up to him and put aside party politics by backing our vote in Parliament so that our pensioners, who have worked hard all their lives, get the support they deserve this winter.

It is the right thing to do, and they all know it.

The Labour Party is split on this issue. The Express has covered outrage from a number of Labour MPs, Lords and union bosses over this cruel policy.

Backbenchers know the pain that will be caused to their elderly constituents by this decision. Even Cabinet ministers privately acknowledge they can’t follow through on it without causing real hardship and want to find ways to soften it.

If Labour MPs do not back our vote in the Commons today [Tuesday], a pensioner living on just £13,000 will have their winter fuel payment removed.

Meanwhile, due to no-strings attached pay rises doled out by the Chancellor, a train driver earning £65,000 will get an extra £10,000.

Worse still, the Government has not carried out an impact assessment. This means they have not even bothered to check what the very real financial and health impacts will be for millions of pensioners. It beggars belief and shows just how callous this policy is.

Labour tried to ram this through Parliament without any debate, and they failed.

They are now trying to ram it through Government without checking what the damage will be. They must fail on this too, or millions of pensioners will be left out in the cold.

Sir Keir cowardly points his finger at the previous administration to explain his choice.

He falsely claims he hasn’t got the money despite inheriting the fastest growing developed economy in the world. It just won’t wash.

The maths don’t add up. This move will save the Exchequer £1.4 billion. But he has splashed £8.3 billion on an unnecessary energy quango.

He has quietly cancelled our plans to take the Civil Service back to its pre-Covid size, costing a billion. And not to mention the billions on union payouts so far.

These are his choices. Whether it’s union bosses, swelling the state or civil servants, pensioners come a distant second every single time.

But they don’t need to do this. I urge Labour MPs to put people before politics and vote against this unfair choice.

As the days get colder and the energy bills rise, too many pensioners will face painful choices unless Labour MPs do the right thing and back our vote.

There are a lot of difficult decisions in politics. This is not one of them.