Winter fuel payments cut ‘one of the worst decisions I have ever seen’ says ex pensions minister

Crossbench peer will table ‘fatal’ Lords motion, as Starmer faces damaging rebellion in Commons vote

• Steve Webb: There’s no need to cut poorer pensioners’ income. Smarter winter fuel solutions are at hand

The respected former pensions minister Ros Altmann has tabled a “fatal” parliamentary motion to kill off the government’s controversial plan to limit winter fuel payments, describing it as “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen”.

The move by Baroness Altmann, a crossbench peer and leading expert on issues affecting elderly people, comes amid growing pressure on the prime minister, Keir Starmer, from across the ­political spectrum, to drop or modify the plan ahead of a series of key votes this week.