Sir Keir Starmer has been hit by a bruising backbench rebellion after more than 50 Labour MPs did not support the government's decision to means test winter fuel payments payments for pensioners.

The vote, on a motion tabled by the Conservatives opposing the cut, took place after a rowdy debate in the Commons where the Labour government was told pensioners would die as a result of the withdrawal of the universal benefit from only those in receipt of eligible benefits such as pension credit - and that pensioners in Scotland would be worst hit.

The Tory motion to annul the Government’s cuts to winter fuel payments was defeated, as expected, by 348 votes to 228, majority 120, in the House of Commons, but many Labour MPs did not support the government.

A breakdown of how individual MPs voted showed 53 Labour MPs did not support the government. They included prominent figures such as Diane Abbott, Clive Lewis, Maria Eagle and Rosie Duffield. 

Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn was among those who did not vote, though he would have been given permission to miss the vote for reasons such as official business elsewhere. However, many others abstained on principle.

"I agree with the government on so many points," said MP John McDonnell, one of those who rebelled, who voted as an independent having previously lost the Labour whip. He supported the Conservative motion, along with John Trickett, the only Labour MP to do so.

"I was not elected to impoverish my constituents and put them in this hardship. I regret voting for a motion, put forth by these characters, but I will have to because there's no other mechanism. And I say to my people in back in Hayes I want to look at them in their face and say I did the right thing."

Mr Trickett said he rebelled “to defend his constituents”.

SNP MP Pete Wishart said Scotland would be “disproportionally hit” by the policy due to its colder climate.

Scottish Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain accused ministers of pursuing a policy which had "cruelty at its heart" noting analysis that around 130,000 elderly people miss out on pension credit as they are just £500 over the income threshold to claim the benefit.

"We know that those vulnerable elderly people will now be cut off from winter fuel payments with just a few months of notice," she told the Commons.

"There is cruelty at the heart of this cut, those vulnerable pensioners who have spent years struggling under a Conservative cost of living crisis are now faced with a double hit, an increase in the energy price cut from the first of October, alongside being stripped of those winter fuel payments."

Tory MP Dr Caroline Johnson told the Commons: "It is important when members are voting today that they understand that when they take away fuel payments away from vulnerable people, some elderly people will die."

She listed medical issues related to being cold including more at risk of chest infections, falls, strokes and heart attacks.

Opening the debate, shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride accused Labour of prioritising public sector pay rises “on the backs of vulnerable pensioners”.

Mr Stride stated: “Of course, all politics is about choices, and what this government has done is it has caved in to its trade union paymasters. It has settled way above inflation, junior doctors 22%, train drivers 14% and what it has done is it has stood up for the trade union paymasters on the backs of vulnerable pensioners. And that is not right.”

Addressing Labour MPs, he told the Commons: “Can I make an impassioned plea to those sitting opposite – look to your conscience. You know in your heart that these measures are wrong.

“You know in your heart that the party opposite has broken their promises and that these measures are going to lead to untold hardship for millions of elderly and vulnerable people right up and down this country.

“You now have an opportunity to join with us and put a stop to it.”

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, explained the government’s plans to cut the winter fuel payment was due to the need to “fix the foundations of the economy”.

Speaking at the end of a Commons debate she said: “We must fix the foundations of our economy as the first step to rebuilding Britain and making changes our country so desperately needs.

“When money is tight the priority must be targeting resources on those who need it most.”

Earlier, Labour’s Dame Meg Hillier, the new chairwoman of the Treasury Committee, said she will support the government’s move to cut the winter fuel payment.

She told the Commons: “The decision we are asked to make today is a difficult one, but sadly it is not going to be the only difficult decision that faces this new Labour Government.”

She added the solution “isn’t to defer tough choices”, adding: “I will be voting with the Government this evening, but equally for the record I want this Government to commit to tackling those cliff edges because that’s what progressive policy and taxation policy will look like.

“And I know from bitter experience, as many members of this House will, that rushed laws tend to be bad laws. So I do not expect some Houdini-like solution to be announced by (Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall) from the frontbench in the closing speeches, but instead I expect and trust her that she will consider removing these chains of poverty as a key mission for this Government in a thoughtful, carefully planned way, tied up with the next budget but way beyond that.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in July that the annual payout in England and Wales would be restricted to recipients on pension credit or certain other benefits as part of her plan to tackle what she said was a £22 billion black hole in public finances. 

Single pensioners with earnings up to £218.15 and couples with a joint income of up to £332.95 are eligible for pension credit, though many people who are eligible do not apply with applicants having to answer more than 200 questions. Take-up for pension credit stands at around 63%.

The cut is expected to reduce the number of pensioners in receipt of the up to £300 payment by 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving around £1.4 billion this year.

Ms Reeves' announcement left the Scottish Government with a £160 million funding shortfall, forcing them to means test the Scottish equivalent benefit, the new devolved pension age winter heating payment.

This will mean that in Scotland the benefit will be restricted to those receiving pension credit or other eligible benefits, ending universal entitlement for 900,000 Scots pensioners. 

A Downing Street spokeswoman said there are no plans to widen the eligibility to the winter fuel payment.

Asked whether encouraging people who are eligible but not yet signed up for pension credit could wipe out the savings from restricting the allowance to the country’s poorest pensioners, she said:

“The issue is that this policy has not been targeted previously … in line with that as well, it is right that anyone eligible for income-related benefits or pension credit is receiving it, and that’s why we’re making efforts to ensure that those who are eligible are converted on to it.”