Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Labour Party, has been accused by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of concealing the impact assessment of the government's winter fuel payment cuts, which is feared to cause an increase in pensioner deaths.

During PMQs, Sunak referred to Labour's 2017 research, which suggested that scrapping winter fuel payments for wealthier pensioners could result in nearly 4,000 additional winter deaths.

The policy change is expected to reduce the number of pensioners receiving the up to three hundred pounds payment from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving the government more than one billion pounds this year.

Sunak urged Starmer to publish the impact assessment, asserting that Labour's own analysis indicated significant potential harm.

Starmer defended the policy, citing the need to stabilize the economy and commit to the triple lock, which ensures state pensions rise by inflation, wage growth, or 2.5%.

The full state pension is set to increase by four hundred and sixty pounds next April.