THE vote to means test the winter fuel allowance is a timely reminder that there are no easy answers to profoundly difficult challenges.

We knew before the General Election that difficult decisions lay ahead. People told us time and time again that NHS dentistry was broken, public transport didn’t work, health services were on their knees, there was an acute shortage of people to fill jobs, the economy wasn’t growing, the country was in a mess. 

We knew that fixing all of that would be hard.

Harder still because for 14 years the Tories had made ‘jazz-hands politics’ into an art form – crisis in social care, there was a ‘clear plan’ for that, post-Brexit trade, fear not, there was ‘an oven ready deal’. Safeguarding our borders? Easy, just whisper three words and the problem will disappear like a reverse Beetlejuice.

It’s time we were honest about the problems facing our country, and serious about the solutions needed. Fixing things costs money, money that simply isn’t there. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, identified a £22bn black hole in the public finances. Fact.

That’s forced the new government to make painful choices such as means-testing the winter fuel allowance.

We have taken steps to protect the most vulnerable pensioners. Those on the lowest incomes who receive pension credit – introduced by the last Labour government to protect pensioners on low incomes– will still get the winter fuel payment in full and we’re doing all we can to ensure that those eligible for pension credit claim it.

That’s something the Conservatives could have done but chose not to do.

Secondly, we are committed to maintaining the triple lock on the state pension. This means that pensions increase in line with inflation, or average earnings, or 2.5 per cent – whichever of these is the highest. Bear in mind too that energy bills have fallen. Ofgem’s price cap is £266 lower this year than last autumn.

But what is needed is change. Proper change. Change like lifting the ridiculous ban on onshore wind, introducing a warm homes plan to insulate homes, creating GB Energy and legislating for responsible budgets so our energy costs aren’t left at the mercy of Vladimir Putin and Liz Truss.

It isn’t going to be easy and it will take time. But after 14 years of easy answers it’s time for serious government.