MANY readers will have seen that I voted against and have expressed my strong opposition to the government’s chilling decision to end winter fuel payments for pensioners on incomes as low as £13,000 a year.

A frail 90-year-old widow should not have to worry about turning on the heating.

Here are 10 reasons why I think cutting it off now is a very bad idea.

1 Heating bills going up 10 per cent this week.

2 Weather has turned cold and there has been no warning of the cut so there has been no time to save during the warmer months.

3 The reason there is a universal winter fuel allowance is that older people spend more time in their home and anyone with an elderly family member will know that they feel the cold more.

4 In 14 years in government the Conservatives kept it in place as a universal benefit. Most public services like access to schools and hospitals are universal benefits.

5 Means-testing it at pension credit levels sets the income too low at only £13,000 a year and many people on low incomes just above the threshold will be punished by this change in policy.

6 If it prompts people to claim pension credit that’s good. But if everyone now claims pension credit because it is more worthwhile it will cost taxpayers more than is saved by ending the winter fuel allowance.

7 Pensioners, especially older people, cannot usually add to their income by working.

8 Cold people end up in hospital more often and for longer, putting more winter pressure on the NHS.

9 The pension credit claim form is very long and complicated 10 Causing an increase in death among older people while enjoying VIP hospitality yourself is chillingly bad politics and this can undermine all our democratic values.

I’m working with community groups and charities to work out what we can do to help people affected by the change but the most logical and compassionate thing the chancellor can do is to abandon this terrible decision.