But now the chancellor is facing one storm of uproar over the decision – with charities, politicians and pensioners calling for the decision to be overturned.

They have also warned that more elderly pensioners are at risk of falling ill as a result of losing their heating lifeline, putting the UK in a health crisis this winter.

Reeves claims she was forced into difficult decisions after discovering a £22 billion black hole in the government’s balance sheet. Yet former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann accused Labor of “balancing the books off the backs of pensioners” and said scrapping fuel payments was worse than scrapping state pension triple lock.

She said: “It’s such a bad decision and needs to be rethought. I don’t think the politicians realized how damaging this is. They think of pensioners as well-off, but millions – especially people over 80 – have either run out of savings, never had something or not have a private pension.”

Mel Stride, shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “Rachel Reeves is taking vital support from vulnerable pensioners, just weeks after an election campaign in which Labor claimed it had no plans to do this. Pensioners will see they simply cannot rely on what Labor says.

“Even those who rely solely on the State Pension for their income will lose the payment, as will the hundreds of thousands who are eligible for Pension Credit but are not currently claiming it.

“The chancellor chooses to grant salary agreement above inflation for the public sectorpaid by retirees who have worked all their lives.”

It comes as regulator Ofgem is predicted to cancel energy price ceiling to more than £1,700 this winter – meaning the typical household shouldn’t pay more than that per year. The price cap was just £993 four years ago.