Chancellor Rachel Reeves has doubled down on the government's 'right but hard' decision to cut winter fuel payments, adding she understood why it disappointed people. Report by Alibhaiz. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00On July the 29th I set out a series of measures that we were taking to close
00:03that gap which added up to five and a half billion pounds. One and a half
00:07billion of pounds of that came from restricting pension winter fuel payments
00:12so that only pensioners on pension credit get it. But at the same time as
00:15making that restriction we've redoubled our commitment to the triple lock so
00:20that pensions continue to rise in line with earnings inflation or two and a
00:24half percent. That means during the course of this Parliament the pension
00:29the new state pension will rise by around 1,700 pounds and is 900 pounds
00:34higher this year than it was last year three times greater than winter fuel
00:40payments. So in the circumstances we faced we think this is the right
00:44decision but it was a hard decision and I understand why many people are
00:48disappointed by it.