Nigel Farage is expected to say he would reinstate the winter fuel allowance (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage will commit to restoring the winter fuel allowance and scrapping the two child benefit cap in a bid to woo left-wing voters. Reform UK is currently riding high in the opinion polls after local election victories and success at the Runcorn and Helsby by-election on May 1.
Opinion polls show it is the most popular political party with voters, followed by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories in an historic fourth place. The outfit’s leader is expected to make a bid to outflank Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on benefits in a speech this week, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Mr Farage, who spent last week on holiday despite the Commons sitting, will return to the political arena to claim Sir Keir is out of touch with working people.
The MP for Clacton is expected to say: “He doesn’t understand what they want and how they feel about the big issues facing Britain. It’s going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of Government.”
Reform UK’s leader will describe Sir Keir as one of the “most unpatriotic” prime ministers in British history in his speech.
A Reform source told the newspaper: “We’re against the two-child cap and we’d go further on winter fuel by bringing the payment back for everyone. That’s already outflanking Labour.”
This week at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir U-turned on the winter fuel payment, signalling he wanted to restore it for more pensioners. The reversal is likely to take place at the Budget in the autumn.
The payment was previously made to all pensioners, but Labour reduced it to only those receiving Pension Credit in one of its first acts in Government.
Ministers are planning to restore the payment to all but the wealthiest pensioners, the Sunday Times reported.
The same publication said civil servants have warned any changes are very unlikely to be made before the winter due to ageing computer systems.
Scrapping the two child benefit cap and reinstating the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners has been tipped to cost the Treasury as much as £5billion. Such moves are likely to lead to tax rises.
But Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has said the policy would be paid for by cutting the foreign aid budget, shutting asylum hotels and scrapping Net Zero subsidies, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
The Observer newspaper reported Sir Keir has privately backed plans to scrap the cap, and made it clear he wants to drive down child poverty.
The Government is facing pressure from its own backbenchers to eliminate the cap, all while the threat of a rebellion over a wide-ranging package of welfare reforms looms.
Meanwhile, the Government’s action plan to tackle child poverty – a document tipped to include proposals to scrap the two-child benefit cap – has been delayed until the autumn. The plan is likely to be aligned with the budget so it can be fully costed.
The two-child benefit cap restricts Universal Credit and tax credits to the first two children in a majority of families.
Keir Starmer accused of ‘lying to British public’ as Chagos deal to cost up to £30bn
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “lying to the British public” after claiming his Chagos Islands deal would cost just £3.4 billion—with Tories claiming the real bill could be as high as £30.3 billion. The Prime Minister unveiled the 25-year economic partnership with Mauritius earlier this week, promising it would “secure long-term stability” and “right a historic wrong”.
But critics say the agreement hands over British territory to a Chinese-aligned state while binding taxpayers to a century of payments. The Conservative Party has branded it a “Surrender Deal”, accusing Mr Starmer of misleading the public over the true cost and undermining national security in the process. Priti Patel, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said: “Labour is lying to British taxpayers with their made-up numbers and dodgy accounting… the true cost of this surrender tax to the British public now seems set to top an eye-watering £30 billion.”
The economic partnership treaty commits Britain to extensive financial contributions, which Conservative figures say amount to a “blank cheque” to Mauritius.
Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Conservative Party, accused Mr Starmer of making the UK “a global laughing stock”, adding: “British territory handed over to a country aligned with China… all to appease the lawyers and activist elite Keir Starmer surrounds himself with.”
Sir Keir has defended the deal, calling it a “pragmatic step forward” that shows Britain “respects international law and its obligations to its partners.”
But with millions already squeezed by Labour’s £40 billion tax hikes, and uncertainty lingering over Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners, critics argue he is putting ideology before the interests of British citizens.
Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch (Image: Getty)
Critics have warned the deal risks opening the door to future interference by foreign powers, with particular concerns raised about China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean and Russia’s growing military outreach.
Conservative defence spokesman James Cartlidge called the agreement “a fundamental betrayal of the UK national interest,” suggesting it could compromise the long-term integrity of Diego Garcia as a base shared with the United States.
A senior defence official said the base is “irreplaceable” from a strategic standpoint, serving as a key hub for surveillance, logistics and rapid deployment across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. They said: “This isn’t just real estate — it’s infrastructure that underpins how we operate globally,” the official said.
Mr Starmer’s insistence that the deal includes “strong protections” has done little to satisfy critics, who argue that sovereignty once transferred is difficult to claw back if geopolitical conditions change.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel (Image: Getty)
The Ministry of Defence has emphasised that the agreement contains binding clauses: no foreign troops will be allowed on any part of the archipelago, development is subject to British veto, and a 24-mile exclusion zone will remain in place around Diego Garcia.
Even so, concerns remain that Mauritius could eventually come under pressure from Beijing — which has invested heavily in ports and infrastructure across the region — or pursue alliances that shift the strategic balance.
Security analyst Dr Emily Ferris warned: “This is a long game. Any weakening of UK control now will be watched very closely by competitors looking to expand their influence in the Indo-Pacific.”
Chagossians, meanwhile, have voiced fears they will be forgotten in the geopolitical manoeuvring. Campaigner Bertrice Pompe said: “We’ve waited decades to go home. Now our future’s being decided without us — again.”
Express.co.uk has contacted Number 10 about Ms Badenoch and Ms Patel’s remarks.
