Winter fuel U-turn is welcomed in Wales

A UK government U-turn on winter fuel payments for pensioners has been welcomed by Wales' first minister.

Eluned Morgan had previously called for a "rethink" on the policy which started being means-tested last year.

The prime minister told the Commons on Wednesday that he wanted more pensioners to be eligible for the payment.

Morgan said she was "delighted the prime minister has listened to the concerns I expressed to him".

She said: "The cuts to the winter fuel payment have caused real concern to people across Wales."

"We are yet to hear the details of the announcement, but I'm hopeful that significantly more people will now benefit from the payment."

A new plans for the payment is expected in the autumn, most likely at the budget.

Around 400,000 Welsh homes have been affected by the changes to the payment.

The payments of up to £300 had previously been made available to everyone of state pension age.

However, last winter pensioners only received a payment if their income was below £11,500.

The payments are a policy area controlled by the UK government at Westminster.

Meinir Jones, 86, of Ruthin, Denbighsire, said the decision to cut winter fuel payments had been a "slap in the face".

She welcomed the reversal in policy but added: "There's a lot of other things they could look into rather than hit the old people that have worked hard and paid their way."

Tom Rees, 81, also of Ruthin added: "Every penny counts for a pensioner. It's a good move, but why do they do it in the first place? A lot of people have suffered as a consequence of last year's decision."

Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives have called on ministers in Wales to introduce their own winter fuel payment to mitigate the impact of last year's change.

The first minister has previously ruled that out.

Plaid's work and pensions spokesperson Ann Davies said the prime minister's comments would offer "little comfort" to pensioners.

She called for cuts to winter fuel payments to be scrapped completely.

"If Labour truly wants to rebuild trust, it must reverse these decisions and abandon the austerity agenda that continues to fail the people of Wales," she said.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar said it was "unclear from the prime minister's statement whether all Welsh pensioners who have lost out will actually have their winter fuel allowance reinstated".

"That's why the Welsh Conservatives have made it clear that we would introduce our own Welsh winter fuel allowance, funded by cutting the Welsh Labour government's bloated bureaucracy."

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick called for more details and an apology.

"The least those people deserve is an apology for this punitive policy and a serious proposal from the prime minister on how he will begin to pick up the pieces from his government's disastrous decision.

"Not vague words that will take months to materialise into something meaningful."

Reform has also opposed the cuts to winter fuel payments.

There is a palpable sense of relief from some Labour Senedd members over this rethink, with caveats.

They are being hammered on the doorstep by constituents either aghast that they have had a payment taken off them, or bewildered that such a change was brought in by a Labour government.

It might be a UK Labour decision, but there is a Senedd election looming in May next year, and Labour's polling in Wales looks dreadful.

But what about those caveats?

The damage might already have been done, and we still do not know what the latest winter fuel payments plan will look like.