Damien

The increase of the triple lock because of the high interest rate is substantially more than the fuel allowance anyway. 8.5% increase this year because they made sure it was linked to the higher inflation figure. That's £902.20 increase this year vs £200 for the fuel allowance.

I am not a fan of removing it because when you means test you will always have people that don't fit into a simple box. It's not a case of poor vs rich, there will be people on the borderline.

But if you need to cut benefits so much has already been cut where else do you find money? This was low-hanging fruit when most of those losing this benefit are getting £900 extra this year.

What Labour should have done is reverse the NI cuts. The last one alone cost £5 billion a year. Easily enough to keep this benefit. Again it's taxing people in work for the benefit of pensioners but until the economy improves tax cuts are a bit much.