A Labour MP has criticised her own Government, claiming people "don't believe us anymore" following cuts to winter fuel payments for pensioners.
Jo White, MP for Bassetlaw, told GB News that public trust had been damaged by the controversial policy.
"When we got into Government in July, people voted us in with a sense of hope," she said.
"The moment that the winter fuel payment announcement was made, in my view, that hope was broken."
Jo White called on the Prime Minister to visit Bassetlaw following the scrap of the winter fuel allowance
PA / GB News
White suggested the Government's communication had broken down with voters. "Now they're not listening to what we're doing, they don't believe us anymore," she told the Camilla Tominey Show.
White has called for the Starmer to visit her constituency to reconnect with northern voters.
"What I ask of Sir Keir Starmer is to come to Bassetlaw and talk to the people of Bassetlaw," she said.
The MP expressed concern about the disconnect between Westminster and northern constituencies: "I want the connection between Westminster and constituencies of the North to be rebuilt. It's completely broken," White stated.
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PA"I want Keir Starmer and other cabinet members to come out to communities like mine and to talk to the voters about what we want to do and listen to them," she urged.
White suggested policymaking and communication have failed, saying: "People don't listen anymore."
Rather than calling for a complete reversal of winter fuel payment cuts, White suggested adjusting the eligibility threshold.
"What I want to see is the raising of the threshold. So, it's not a yes or no," she explained when asked if changes should be reversed.
White told GB News that people 'don't listen' to Labour anymore
GB News
The Bassetlaw MP believes the current system fails to protect many vulnerable pensioners, highlighting that wealthy pensioners could manage without the payment.
She concluded: "The people in the higher range, of the upper range of paying tax… they are obviously wealthy people, and therefore they do not particularly benefit from the winter fuel payment.
"So it's people who need that money in order to be able to live in the winter times."
