Shock figures showing most disabled pensioners will lose their winter fuel allowance were snuck out by officials on Friday evening.
Sir Keir Starmer was quizzed about winter fuel payments and other issues during a visit to Washington (Image: Getty)
The Department for Work and Pensions also admitted that 83% of retirees over 80 – around 2.7 million people – will be stripped of £300.
Ex-pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, a partner at pension consultants LCP, criticised the government for waiting until after the vote before releasing the figures.
Sir Steve said: “It is shocking that this impact assessment has appeared late on a Friday evening, three days after MPs voted on the issue.
“The Government’s own figures show that 7 in 10 disabled people over pension age will lose their winter fuel payment and more than 8 in 10 of those aged 80 or over.
“The Treasury confirms our analysis that those who miss out on pension credit or are just a few pounds above the cut-off are likely to be significantly negatively affected.
“This information should have been in front of MPs when they decided whether to support the policy.”
The DWP released a “high level equality analysis” following a freedom of information request.
Men are more likely to lose out under the changes than women, while 97% of couples will be hit, some 5.5 million pensioners, and 4.5 million of those who live alone.
The figures showed that 71% of people with a disability who currently get a winter fuel payment will lose it, around 1.6m pensioners.
Labour is axing the universal allowance, which is £200 for pensioners under 80 and £300 for those over, to save £1.5 billion
Instead only retirees who receive pension credit or other means-tested benefits will receive payments this year.
The Express crusade to save the payment has been backed by MPs from across the political spectrum.
But the government insists pensioners will be “better off” as the triple lock will put up state pensions by £400.
Sir Keir Starmer has refused also to rule out scrapping the 25% single-person council tax discount, saying decisions on the public finances had to be looked at “in the round”.
Scrapping the discount could further hit some pensioners living alone who have already suffered the loss of winter fuel payments, but the Prime Minister insisted he was not punishing older Britons.
He told reporters: “The Budget is on October 30. So, between now and then, you are all going to ask me questions, as you did before the election, ‘will you rule out X, Y, Z?’
“And knowing that I’m not going to say before the Budget what we’re going to do, you will then write a story saying, ‘refused to rule out X, Y, Z’.
“I’m not going to say before the Budget what we’re going to do.
“That does not mean that I’m ruling in anything that you might be putting to me, it simply means, like every Prime Minister, we’re not going to reveal what’s in the Budget before we get to it.”
But when it was put to him that Ms Reeves had ruled out other potential cash-saving options such as scrapping free bus passes, TV licences and prescriptions, he said: “We’ve got to look at everything in the round.”
A Government spokesman said: “While it is not routine to publish advice as part of the development of policy, we have published the equality analysis on winter fuel payment eligibility.
“Our focus is on ensuring that those who should be claiming this support are receiving it alongside the wider support for vulnerable households including the Warm Homes discount worth £150 and Household Support Fund to help people with the cost of living and energy bills.
“Over a million pensioners will continue to receive the Winter Fuel Payment and through our commitment to protect the triple lock, those on the full new State Pension will receive an extra £400 – twice the average winter fuel payment.”
