Should all pensioners get the winter fuel payment? Have your say

Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After 72 hours the poll closes and, each Friday, we'll publish and analyse the results, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will not “water down” plans to strip winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners despite a revolt by Labour MPs and accusations they are "hiding" the likely full impact of the cut.

Chancellor Reeves insisted it was “absolutely right” to means-test the benefit, worth up to £300, in order to address a reported £22bn “black hole” in the public finances.

The move is expected to cut the number of people receiving the payment of up to £300 by around 10 million – from 11.4 million to 1.5 million – which the government hopes will save £1.4bn this year.

But former prime minister Rishi Sunak has pointed to research commissioned by the Labour Party itself, which in 2017 was already warning that Conservative plans to scale back the benefit could lead to almost 4,000 extra winter deaths.

Speaking at PMQs, the outgoing Tory leader urged Starmer to publish the impact assessment for means-tested winter fuel payments.

He said: “We know why he’s hiding the impact assessment. The Labour Party’s own previous analysis claimed that this policy could cause 3,850 deaths.

“So, are the numbers in his impact assessment higher or lower than that?”

Responding, the prime minister insisted planned increases to pensions would "outstrip any loss of payment" due to the 'triple lock', which guarantees the state pension rises by inflation, average wage growth or 2.5% every year.

As a result, the state pension is due to rise by £460 from next April - £160 more than the maximum payout available via the Winter Fuel Payment scheme.

However, after PMQs, Downing Street refused to say whether it would publish an impact assessment relating to it plans to cut the benefit.

Critics of the proposal have claimed it will make this winter “deeply challenging” for millions of pensioners.

Charity Age UK said it was "deeply disappointed" following Tuesday's vote in the House of Commons, adding: "We are baffled as to why some ministers are asserting that this is the right thing to do."

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition – made up of more than 70 charities, campaign groups and other organisations – said MPs had voted to “condemn some of the most vulnerable pensioners to live in cold damp home this winter”.

During the general election campaign, Labour pledged it would not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT, leaving it with limited options of clawing more money back into the Treasury.

Reeves has continued to defend the policy, arguing that many pensioners do not need the payment and the most vulnerable will be supported by improving the take-up of pension credit.

“These weren’t decisions that I wanted to make," she said on Wednesday. "They weren’t decisions that I expected to make, but in the circumstances that we faced it was absolutely right to make sure that our public finances were on a firmer footing."

A YouGov poll from July showed that around 47% support the winter fuel allowance being means tested, while 38% said they opposed such a move, with the rest undecided.

What do you think? Should the winter fuel payment remain universal? Let us know in the polls below.

These polls have now closed, please come back on Friday to read the results and analysis.

Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles