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according to xinhua news agency in london on september 10, the british house of commons rejected a motion against cutting winter heating subsidies by 348 votes to 228 on the 10th, which means that about 10 million british pensioners will not receive heating subsidies this winter.

figures show that cutting subsidies would only save around £1.5 billion in total, far from enough to make up for the £22 billion fiscal shortfall that chancellor of the exchequer rachel reeves had previously warned of.

british prime minister keir starmer said in a speech before the vote that the government had to take unpopular measures to promote national change. british secretary of state for work and pensions liz kendall also said that reforming winter heating subsidies is part of stabilizing and rebuilding the british economy.

earlier, a poll commissioned by the liberal democratic party showed that 55% of british retirees considered reducing heating this winter after the subsidy was cancelled. two-thirds of the respondents said that they would have to take additional energy-saving measures due to this change.

martin powell, professor of health and social policy at the university of birmingham, told xinhua that the government could have saved money in other areas instead of cutting heating subsidies for the elderly.

steve nolan, an economics lecturer at liverpool john moores university, said the policy was hastily introduced to fill a fiscal "black hole" and that the hasty policy exposed the country's eagerness for quick success and instant benefits in fiscal policy.

in july this year, the uk government's public debt reached about 2.7 trillion pounds, accounting for about 99.4% of its gross domestic product (gdp). a report released by the uk national institute of economic and social research in august showed that based on the current government spending and taxation plans, the budget deficit level will remain above 3% of gdp in the next five years, and the public debt will be about 100% of gdp. (reporter zheng bofei)

editor: xin jing