‘It’s all people wanted to talk about’: How Labour U-turned on winter fuel payment cut

Senior Labour ministers warned No 10 privately that the policy was an electoral disaster. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Rarely are British voters united by one issue, but Labour MPs returning to Westminster after the local election campaign this month all reported a single policy dominating all others: cuts to the winter fuel allowance.

“It is all people wanted to talk about on the doorstep,” said one. “Some were upset about the coming cuts to disability benefits, some were exercised by immigration. But everyone was angry about winter fuel payments.”