Starmer's winter fuel U-turn seeks to calm Labour nerves

The details will follow in the Budget this autumn. But make no mistake, this is a U-turn.

The decision to means-test the winter fuel allowance was one of the first announcements made by Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves almost a year ago.

It was intended to demonstrate both the dire state of the government's economic inheritance and the new regime's willingness to take tough decisions in response.

It didn't quite turn out that way.

Early grumblings from MPs generally on the Labour left rapidly spread into more unexpected parts of the party.

Even those MPs who made a decent fist of defending the policy right to the end admitted that it was the most frequently raised issue by members of the public when they were out campaigning.