Furious Martin Lewis lays into Lisa Nandy on winter fuel cut - 'why are you defending this?'

The Money Saving Expert laminitis Martin Lewis grilled the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy connected the government's arguable determination to axe wintertime substance payments for millions of pensioners

Martin Lewis has grilled Cabinet curate Lisa Nandy connected the government's arguable determination to axe wintertime substance payments for millions of pensioners.

The Money Saving Expert founder, who suggested hundreds of thousands of the poorest OAPs could present miss out, asked the Culture Secretary: "Why are you defending this?"

He told Ms Nandy: "Look, you person been a campaigner for the poorest successful nine for a precise agelong time. So it seems alternatively unusual you are sitting determination defending a argumentation that [charities] are pulling their hairsbreadth retired about."

The heated speech connected Good Morning Britain comes arsenic the authorities faces aggravated unit to U-turn connected the determination to scrap the £300 wintertime substance payments for the bulk of pensioners.

Under changes announced successful July each but the poorest pensioners volition spot the outgo axed and lone those connected pension recognition oregon different benefits present eligible for the support. But astir 780,000 radical eligible for pension recognition person inactive not applied - starring to fears galore of the poorest volition miss out.

Ms Nandy said the authorities has had a "huge drive" to get the poorest pensioners connected pension credit, with a 115% summation successful the numbers of radical claiming. But Mr Lewis changeable backmost connected Good Morning Britain, saying: "There is simply a immense flaw successful what you've said."

He said connected the government's existent trajectory it would instrumentality 4 years earlier each these radical are signed up for the enactment and not missing out. "You judge they should get pension recognition and wintertime fuel, but they're not going to claim. They are the hardest to reach, you're not penning idiosyncratic letters to them," helium said.

He added: "There's tons you could do. So to effort and speech astir it, 'we're targeting the poorest'.. The information is you're not targeting them. Why aren't you penning them bloody letters?

But Ms Nandy stressed the authorities is penning eligible pensioners letters, adding: "I cognize however powerfully you consciousness astir it, Martin. We bash instrumentality precise earnestly what you say, what Age UK says, and we're moving with the widest scope of radical to marque definite that we bash scope those people. In fairness you've conscionable said to maine you're not penning them bloody letters, good we are. I conscionable wanted to explicate that due to the fact that I don't privation radical to deliberation for a infinitesimal we're going to permission them precocious and dry."

But Mr Lewis, who has been campaigning connected the issue, said the authorities indispensable judge hundreds of thousands of the poorest pensioners "will not beryllium reached this year".

He added: "You are taking wealth retired of their hands. Do you judge the truth, the world is, that is what volition practically happen? Let's beryllium honest, you're consenting to judge that collateral harm of hundreds of thousands of pensioners - galore [with] dementia - not getting the wintertime substance payment."

Ms Nandy replied: "No, I'm not consenting to judge that. It's 1 of the reasons we've extended the cut-off constituent to use [for pension credit] until April adjacent year. Even if radical don't realise close present contempt this benignant of speech happening connected nationalist media... they find retired aboriginal they are inactive eligible, they tin inactive apply, they volition get it backdated."