Sir Keir Starmer‘s humiliating climbdown on the Winter Fuel Allowance is the latest U-turn from the Labour leader, with more tipped to follow. Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed on Monday (June 9) that nine million people would receive the payment this winter after the Prime Minister announced plans to reverse the cruel cuts following May’s disastrous local election results.

Expectation is also growing that Sir Keir will U-turn on lifting the two-child benefit cap. The Prime Minister has yet to announce his plans, but is said to be in favour of ending the limit.

Today’s announcement on the Winter Fuel Payment is the latest in a series of U-turns and disappointments in Sir Keir’s parliamentary career.

Here, the Express looks back on Sir Keir’s climbdowns, U-turns and broken promises.

Just days after Labour swept to victory in last July’s General Election, Sir Keir’s Government announced pensioners not receiving Pension Credit or other means-tested benefits would be denied the Winter Fuel Allowance. This was despite it not being mentioned in the party’s manifesto.

Millions of people were stripped of the £300 payment that helps towards energy costs. Sir Keir was adamant he wouldn’t U-turn on the policy, which the Government argued was required to plug a £20billion black hole in the public finances.

But after Reform UK took control of 10 councils and swelled its ranks of councillors, the PM said he wanted more pensioners to receive the payment.

The payment will be restored to the vast majority of pensioners who previously received it because anyone with an income of under £35,000 a year will get the payment automatically.

Sir Keir said in 2020, long before his party was elected on a promise to change the country, that it was time to scrap Universal Credit and create a social security system fit for this century, with “compassion and justice” as its founding principles.

He called for benefits sanctions, the two-child limit and work capability assessments to be scrapped, but he dropped the warm words ahead of the general election, saying Labour wouldn’t change the limit.

Seven Labour MPs were suspended from the party, including former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, when they voted for an SNP motion to scrap the cap.

When pushed to commit to scrapping the policy, Sir Keir has sidestepped the issue, insisting he wants to drive down child poverty and wait for the publication of a strategy in the autumn. But he faces a sizeable backbench rebellion if he decides to keep the limit.

Sir Keir’s Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, told campaigners from the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) they wouldn’t receive any compensation last year.

It signalled another U-turn, with the then Leader of the Opposition describing the WASPI women’s situation as “a real injustice”.

He said: “All your working life you’ve got in mind the date on which you can retire and get your pension, and just as you get towards it, the goalposts are moved and you don’t get it, and it’s a real injustice.

“We need to do something about it. That wasn’t the basis on which you paid in or the basis on which you were working.”

In its General Election manifesto, Labour pledged not to increase taxes on working people. It said: “Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.”

However, the PM and his Chancellor raised the amount employers have to contribute towards National Insurance instead, leaving them with a 2% increase. The 15.8% rate is expected to raise £18bn.

But the levy is in effect a tax on jobs, with employers warning the move would have a chilling impact on hiring.

In 2023, Sir Keir said he was concerned about the “existential risk” farmers in Britain face, but the PM has also betrayed them.

His then Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the suggestion he would scrap farmers’ tax breaks was “desperate nonsense”.

However, from 2026, farmers face a 20% tax on the value of farms above £ 1 million, whereas before, they could pass them down tax-free.

When former prime minister Liz Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng scrapped the payout limit in 2022, Sir Keir vowed to bring back the cap, which restricted payouts to twice a banker’s salary.

When it was lifted, he accused the Conservatives of being “tone deaf” to the hardships people were experiencing during a cost-of-living crisis.

However, Ms Reeves said she wouldn’t reinstate the cap ahead of the general election in yet another U-turn.

Sir Keir’s Chancellor offered the super rich a tax incentive when it emerged millionaires were abandoning Britain in the wake of Labour’s general election victory.

Under planned changes, Labour is looking to expand a scheme which allows a UK resident whose permanent home for tax purposes is outside Britain to bring income and capital gains into Britain but with a reduced tax bill.

Sir Keir’s policies and priorities have strayed somewhat from the 10 pledges he made to win the Labour Party leadership. These included scrapping tuition fees, increasing income tax on top earners, and backing public ownership of key utilities such as water and energy.

The Prime Minister has cited the state of Britain’s economy to argue that such pledges are no longer affordable, but many inside his own party feel betrayed by his failure to keep his promises.

At the Labour Party conference in 2021, Rachel Reeves pledged a £28bn boost to green investments. But the pledge was ditched before the General Election.