Could legal bid stop ‘cruel’ UK government plan to axe winter fuel benefit?

Pensioner groups attend a protest called by the UNITE union opposite the Houses of Parliament on October 7, 2024 in London, UK over the decision to scrap the annual heating allowance for many pensioners [Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]

A couple from Scotland is suing the UK government over its decision to abolish an allowance for at least 10 million elderly people to spend on additional heating fuel in the winter.

Following the Labour Party’s landslide election victory in the UK’s general election on July 4, one of the first decisions Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves took was to axe the universal Winter Fuel Payment which is not means-tested and is worth 200 to 300 pounds ($260 to $390) a year, depending on age of the recipient.