Rachel Reeves limited the payment to only those pensioners in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits – around 1.5 million – saving up to £1.5bn a year.

The arc of this row runs to almost a year. It was late July last year when I was among a bunch of reporters called into the Treasury to question the then new chancellor about her out-of-the-blue policy to take the Winter Fuel Payment from millions of pensioners.

The final act in this slow motion U-turn has played out. Ever since Labour MPs have grumbled they've been taking heat for it.

The issue sat like a giant toad on the political news agenda all summer, hundreds of those newly elected Labour MPs deluged with complaints. And it never really went away.

At the local elections in England and the parliamentary by-election in Runcorn in Cheshire last month, it came up repeatedly on the doorstep. Then we got the U turn, in three parts.

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, the prime minister said the threshold would be moving. Last week, the chancellor said the new recipients would get it this coming winter. We now know who will qualify and who will have to pay it back.

A couple of thoughts: could the government have done this in the first place? Some privately say: absolutely. Others say there was genuinely real concern in the Treasury about the state of the books and they felt compelled to do something to reduce so-called in year costs.

Source: BBC.