Rachel Reeves has finally admitted she got it badly wrong over her decision to cut the winter fuel payment for pensioners. The Chancellor has refused multiple to apologise for the policy which pensioners, campaigners and even her own MPs branded “cruel”.

Pensioners in England and Wales with an annual income below £35,000 will now be eligible, reversing one of the government's first major policies.

The desire to win back pensioners deserting Labour for Reform was the real calculation at the heart of the winter fuel U-turn, says David Maddox