Chancellor faces down would-be rebels ahead of winter fuel payment vote

Rachel Reeves tells Labour MPs that axing allowance for all but poorest pensioners will help plug 22bn hole in finances

The chancellor has faced down would-be rebels in a private meeting of Labour MPs ahead of the crunch vote on the government's controversial plan to scrap the winter fuel allowance.

Rachel Reeves told a gathering of the parliamentary Labour party that the move was necessary, despite fears about the impact on millions of less-well-off pensioners, as it would help to plug a 22bn gap in the public finances.