CNN’s Dana Bash compared President Donald Trump to an arsonist calling the fire department on Monday because of his decision to send the National Guard to Los Angeles to help quell the riots over deportations of illegal immigrants. 

“I know this is a promise that he gave on the campaign trail to do whatever he could to deport illegal immigrants,” Bash said during her show, “Inside Politics With Dana Bash.” 

“But what you just posted is basically an arsonist saying, ‘I better call the fire department because they got to come in fast to get the flames out,” she added. “That seems like what‘s going on.”

NY TIMES SAYS ‘REAL EMERGENCY’ IS TRUMP SENDING TROOPS TO LOS ANGELES

In a Monday post on TruthSocial referenced by Bash, Trump defended his decision to send 2,000 National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area over the weekend to respond to the riots. 

“We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California,” Trump said in the post. “If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated. The very incompetent ‘Governor,’  Gavin Newscum, and ‘Mayor,’ Karen Bass, should be saying, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, YOU ARE SO WONDERFUL. WE WOULD BE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU, SIR.’”

Footage of the riots shows people spitting on and burning the American flag as well as assaulting police officers and setting cars on fire. Rioters also smashed the windows of the Los Angeles Police Department’s headquarters. 

The rioting began on Friday, the same day LA Mayor Karen Bass called out Trump for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids detaining illegal immigrants. 

“This morning, we received reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in multiple locations in Los Angeles,” Bass said in a Friday statement. 

“As Mayor of a proud city of immigrants, who contribute to our city in so many ways, I am deeply angered by what has taken place,” she added. “These tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city. My Office is in close coordination with immigrant rights community organizations. We will not stand for this.”

NEWSOM’S OFFICE COMPARES LA RIOTS AGAINST FEDERAL AGENTS TO SPORTS CELEBRATIONS

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., posted on Monday that the Trump administration is “baiting unrest instead of working to bring our nation together.”

Califonria Gov. Gavin Newsom, D., also blamed the Trump administration for the unrest, posting on social media Monday, “Let’s get this straight: 1) Local law enforcement didn’t need help. 2) Trump sent troops anyway – to manufacture chaos and violence. 3) Trump succeeded. 4) Now things are destabilized and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump’s mess.” 

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., is departing Capitol Hill early, he announced on Monday.

Green said he is leaving Congress for the private sector after the House votes again on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in the coming weeks, in a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from Congress. Recently, I was offered an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up. As a result, today I notified the Speaker and the House of Representatives that I will resign from Congress as soon as the House votes once again on the reconciliation package,” Green said.

HOUSE GOP TARGETS ANOTHER DEM OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF BLOCKING ICE AMID DELANEY HALL FALLOUT

He called serving Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District “the honor of a lifetime.”

“They asked me to deliver on the conservative values and principles we all hold dear, and I did my level best to do so. Along the way, we passed historic tax cuts, worked with President Trump to secure the border, and defended innocent life. I am extremely proud of my work as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and want to thank my staff, both in my seventh district office, as well as the professional staff on that committee,” Green said.

Green acknowledged in his statement that he had previously geared up to retire in the last Congress, but reversed course.

MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE

“Though I planned to retire at the end of the previous Congress, I stayed to ensure that President Trump’s border security measures and priorities make it through Congress,” he said.

“By overseeing the border security portion of the reconciliation package, I have done that. After that, I will retire, and there will be a special election to replace me.”

Green is an Army veteran who has served in Congress since 2019.

As House Homeland Security Committee chairman, he oversaw Republicans’ impeachment of former Biden administration DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

It’s not clear where in the private sector Green will go, but it’s a safe bet to assume his House seat will stay in Republican hands.

The district voted for President Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points over former Vice President Kamala Harris last year.

Republican leaders are hoping to complete consideration of Trump’s massive agenda bill by the Fourth of July or shortly thereafter.

The bill passed the House in a narrow 215-214 vote, and it is now being considered by the Senate. If the Senate changes the bill, as expected, the House will have to approve that version before it hits Trump’s desk.

Riley Gaines fired back at USA Today columnist Nancy Armour who defended Simone Biles after the Olympic gymnast fired off a personal attack on the former NCAA swimmer.

Armour painted Biles as a champion for the transgender community as the American gymnast called Gaines a “bully” for her fight to protect women’s and girls’ sports. The columnist also claimed, “There is no scientific evidence that transgender women athletes have a physical advantage over cisgender women athletes” while hitting out at Gaines.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Armour implored readers to be more like Biles than Gaines.

Gaines ripped apart Armour’s argument in the latest episode of OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast.

“She is just about insufferable as they come, truthfully. She has been the frontrunner for USA Today, at least, for discriminating against girls,” Gaines said. “Not even just that actually. I would say it’s worse than that. Shaming, publicly humiliating girls like myself for opposing this. For opposing having to strip down naked in front of a man.

“She has long been proven to be utterly insufferable and should not have a job at USA Today. But I guess that’s what the appeal is or at least what they believe the appeal is.”

Gaines then tore into the alleged “scientific evidence” that disproved that men have a physical advantage over women and girls in sports.

TENNIS LEGEND MARTINA NAVRATILOVA PUTS POLITICS ASIDE IN FIGHT FOR FAIRNESS IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

“Do they realize how stupid this sounds? How infactual it is, how utterly incorrect it is to say that men don’t possess a physical advantage on average over women,” Gaines wondered.

The entire feud sparked up over the weekend when Biles went after Gaines over the former collegiate athlete taking issue with a transgender high school softball player winning the state championship in Minnesota.

“@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser,” Biles wrote on X. “You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!

“But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”

Gaines responded to Biles’ attack.

“This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet,” Gaines wrote in response to Biles’ post. “Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card.

“Maybe she could compete in pommel horse and rings in 2028.”

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

FIRST ON FOX: Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins announced Monday afternoon that a VA clinic in Los Angeles had to be suddenly shuttered as the City of Angels was ablaze in violence following ICE deportation raids.

“To the violent mobs in Los Angeles rioting in support of illegal immigrants and against the rule of law – your actions are interfering with veterans’ health care,” Collins said.

The secretary, formerly a Republican congressman from Georgia, said his agency had to make the “difficult decision” to temporarily close the LA Ambulatory Care Center.

Collins told Fox News Digital that California leaders “repeatedly put the interests of illegal immigrants and criminals above those of hard-working citizens.”

MAXINE WATERS TAUNTS ARMED AGENTS AFTER FEDS SLAM DOOR ON HER DURING LA RIOTS: ‘YOU BETTER SHOOT STRAIGHT’

“[N]ow, Los Angeles veterans are paying the price,” he said.

“We are thankful President Donald Trump has the courage to bring order and safety back to the citizens of Los Angeles – something California leaders have failed to do.”

Collins assured that the clinic would reopen as soon as it is safe to do so, and that veterans needing care there can reschedule or pursue telehealth options.

DOZENS OF PROMINENT VETERANS SIGN ONTO LETTER SUPPORTING ‘OUTSTANDING’ HEGSETH NOMINATION AMID CONTROVERSIES

The center is located between Skid Row and Union Station, and is just off the US-101 freeway, which was one of the highways rioters converged on over the weekend.

California Highway Patrol officers were stranded in their vehicles at one point on that stretch of road, according to KABC, which reported they were subjected to projectiles being thrown by rioters during the asphalt incursion.

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During a recent television interview, Collins said he remains laser-focused on his agency’s mission.

“The president told me to do one thing and that’s take care of our veterans.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass for purposes of this story.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s floated potential run for the White House in 2028 was likely thwarted by his handling of the anti-ICE riots gripping Los Angeles, conservative social media critics predict. 

Newsom has been floated as a likely 2028 Democratic contender for the White House as he wraps up his second term as governor in 2026. Riots plaguing the city in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants residing in Los Angeles, which come on the heels of massive wildfires that rocked southern California this winter, have left Newsom on precarious political ground, according to conservatives who are balking at his response to the LA chaos. 

“Gavin Newsom’s odds of clinching the 2028 presidential race are practically nonexistent,” X user Angela Belcamino posted Monday. “Across the country, Americans are eyeing California’s struggles under his watch, convinced he’d unleash the same chaos nationwide if he ever won the White House.” 

“Gavin Newsom’s handling of the LA riots should be considered an in-kind contribution to the @JDVance
2028 presidential campaign. Newsom is providing a lot of ad material for free,” one social media account posted on Sunday. 

JONATHAN TURLEY: DEMOCRATS’ RABID ANTI-ICE RESISTANCE IN LA AGAINST TRUMP COULD BACKFIRE

“Notice how Newsom has no adverse commentary about the rioters – he saves all his venom for American authorities,” author and retired Army Col. James Hutton posted to X Sunday. “This is why he has no chance to be president one day. Most Americans tend to believe in this country.” 

Many critics of the riots unfolding in Los Angeles argued that photos of the scene would live in infamy and dash any hopes Newsom may hold on running for president. Some users remarked that the photos depicting rioters surrounded by flames and smoke while waving a Mexican flag “will cost Newsom his 2028 presidential run,” and that the Trump administration “couldn’t have asked for better” representation of California politics captured in photos.  

“Gavin Newsom is refusing to help stop the riots AND denying their existence because he bows to open borders donors… hoping they’ll fund his 2028 Presidential run. Do not forget this!,” Club for Growth senior analyst Andrew Follett posted to X, accompanied by a photo showing a rioter with a Mexican flag on a motorbike as smoke billowed behind him. 

CALIFORNIA LT. GOVERNOR SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTS ARE ‘GENERATED BY DONALD TRUMP’

“Newsom 2028 off to a 🔥 start,” editor-in-chief of the DC Report Matt Foldi posted, accompanied by a similar photo showing a rioter waving what appeared to be the Mexican flag as a fire raged in front of him. 

“Gavin Newsom 2028,” DC Draino, a popular conservative X account, posted accompanied by a photo of a pair of masked rioters standing on a destroyed car waving the Mexican flag. 

Newsom spokesperson Lindsey Cobia told Fox News Digital when approached for comment on the matter: “President Trump’s actions are straight out of a dictator’s playbook. Governor Newsom won’t stop protecting California and the rule of law from Trump’s unprecedented assault on American freedom. “

Newsom is viewed as a potential leader of the Democratic Party as it navigates its future following the disastrous 2024 election cycle that saw President Joe Biden exit the race just over 100 days from Election Day and former Vice President Kamala Harris fail to rally support against now-President Donald Trump. The Democratic governor has not yet said whether he would launch a presidential run in 2028. 

NY TIMES SAYS ‘REAL EMERGENCY’ IS TRUMP SENDING TROOPS TO LOS ANGELES

Riots broke out in the left-wing city Friday evening after federal law enforcement officials converged on Los Angeles to carry out immigration raids as part of Trump’s vow to deport illegal aliens who flooded the nation under the Biden administration. Local leaders such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom, however, quickly denounced the raids in public statements while offering words of support for illegal immigrants in the state. 

Protests over the raids soon devolved into violence as rioters targeted federal law enforcement officials, including launching rocks at officials, as well as videos showing people looting local stores, setting cars on fire and taking over a freeway. 

Trump announced Saturday that he was deploying 2,000 National Guard members to help quell the violence, bypassing the governor, who typically activates the National Guard and sparking Newsom to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for efforts to allegedly “federalize the California National Guard.” 

Trump and Newsom have long sparred, stretching back to the first Trump administration, including when Newsom installed coronavirus restrictions in the state during the pandemic, such as mask and vaccine mandates and social distancing rules, as well as Trump slamming Newsom for California’s spiraling crime rate as a national crime wave spiked in 2020. Trump also frequently refers to the California Democrat as “Newscum” as an ongoing jab at the governor. 

The pair, however, have most frequently and recently traded barbs over California’s fire response, which came under fierce scrutiny in January when wildfires plagued the Los Angeles area and Trump pinned blame on Newsom. 

“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump posted to Truth Social as the fires raged just weeks ahead of Trump’s inauguration. 

NEWSOM’S OFFICE COMPARES LA RIOTS AGAINST FEDERAL AGENTS TO SPORTS CELEBRATIONS

“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”

Newsom’s office shot back that “there is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction. The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”

Trump has a long history of putting Newsom’s handling of wildfires under the microscope across his first four years in the White House, including in January 2019 when he threatened to cut off federal funds to California if reforms were not made to the state’s forest management services. 

CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS SLAM NEWSOM, BASS FOR LETTING LA BURN WITH RIOTS AMID TRUMP IMMIGRATION BLITZ

“Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen,” he posted to X that year. “Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!” 

Newsom and other Democrats have historically pushed back that wildfires in the state are due to climate change and global warming. 

“You don’t believe in climate change,” Newsom shot back at Trump in 2019, for example, after the president slammed him for his wildfire leadership. “You are excused from this conversation.” 

LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES: CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM SLAMMED FOR ‘SIDESHOW’ AS HE DEFENDS STATE’S RESPONSE

The riots gripping LA following the massive Palisades wildfires in January stack the odds against a potential Newsom presidential run, other commenters argued on social media. 

“Let’s evaluate this, Gav. First… devastating fires due to you and your state’s negligence. Second, riots… once again due to your love for illegals, sanctuary cities, etc. Your aspirations for 2028 have gone up in the flames you are responsible for,” one social media commented posted to X on Monday. 

“The LA fires and the LA riots have burned Newsom’s chances of a successful presidential run to the ground,” another X user posted. 

Others on X argued the riots in Los Angeles would help Newsom’s chances should he run in 2028. 

“Trump is making a strong case for Newsom ‘28,” Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov posted to X. 

A Minnesota State lawmaker told her colleagues on Monday that she is in the U.S. illegally, as is her family, and have been since fleeing Vietnam after the Vietnam War.

Rep. Kaohly Vang Her attended a special session of the Minnesota Legislature convened by Gov. Tim Walz on Monday, where lawmakers were debating about modifying MinnesotaCare eligibility for undocumented adult immigrants.

While arguments were being made, Her used the opportunity to share the story of how she arrived in the U.S., telling her colleagues that she is an illegal immigrant.

Her said she has been spending a lot of time with her father, who brought the family to the U.S. at the end of the Vietnam War. At one point, she asked her father how he brought the family to the U.S.

COLOMBIAN WOMAN CHARGED WITH ILLEGALLY VOTING IN 2024 ELECTION STEALING $400,000 IN TAXPAYER FUNDED BENEFITS

She previously believed that her family was granted entry into the U.S. because her grandfather was a colonel in the war. But her father told her that was not true.

Her father worked for the U.S. Consulate, Her said, and was one of the few there who could speak English and type “really fast.”

Her said her father had moved to the consulate away from the refugee camp she, her mother and sisters lived at, and his job was to process all the paperwork for the refugees who came to America.

PROPOSED BILL WOULD REQUIRE LAW ENFORCEMENT IN BLUE STATE TO COOPERATE WITH ICE: ‘A LINE OF COMMUNICATION’

While working at the U.S. Consulate, Her’s family missed their opportunity to go to the U.S. three times, and there was one more time that they could attempt to go to the U.S.

Her told her mother they must have been lucky, but her mom said it was not luck.

“We did not have our names on that list to come to the U.S.,” Her said, explaining that there was no priority for children of someone who worked for the CIA. “The only people that had names to come to the U.S. were if you were … in the military and you worked for the CIA or worked for USAID.”

Her’s parents worked for a Christian organization, which also did not count. But they were able to find a way by fudging the paperwork, to get to the U.S.

‘SHAMEFUL’: LEGAL IMMIGRANTS FACE UPHILL BATTLE AMID ONGOING BORDER CRISIS

“What my father did was, one of our uncles worked for USAID, and because his mother had died, my father, as the one processing the paperwork, put my grandmother down as his mother,” Her said. “And so, I am illegal in this country. My parents are illegal here in this country. And when we were fleeing that situation, never one time did my family say, ‘Let’s look at which state has the greatest welfare and which state has the greatest benefits, because that’s the state we’re going to go to.’”

“Nobody leaves their country unless they have to leave that country,” she added.

Her told the room of lawmakers she shared the story because she wanted them to think about who they are calling illegal immigrants.

Her’s family was “smarter” in how they came to the U.S., she said, although they broke the laws to get into the country.

“I never knew that,” she said. “I just learned that now. So, when you’re thinking about voting no on this bill, you’re voting no against someone like me who paid more into this country than it has ever given to me, that the blood of my grandfather, who died for democracy, that he never received benefits being in this country, and yet he paid taxes his entire life into it.”

Her’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.

Still, Her asked her colleagues to give everyone the same opportunity her family had, however they got to the U.S.

“They didn’t want to leave where they were,” she said. “We are not looking to what state is going to give us the best benefits. We’re looking to just be alive.”

“Harry Potter” actor Tom Felton defended JK Rowling at Sunday night’s Tony Awards after being asked about the fierce liberal backlash she’s received for her views on gender and biology.

The British actor was on the red carpet at the awards show Sunday, where he was interviewed by Variety about reprising his film role as Draco Malfoy in the Broadway play, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” 

The play, based off an original story co-authored by Rowling, takes place 19 years after the final “Harry Potter” novel.

Felton was asked if the controversy surrounding Rowling’s transgender views had affected his work at all, which he denied. Rowling has been a strong advocate for single-sex spaces for women and has repeatedly been labeled as transphobic by far-left activists.

JOHN LITHGOW SHOCKED BY BACKLASH HE GOT FROM PRO-TRANS ACTIVISTS OVER JOINING NEW ‘HARRY POTTER’ SERIES

“No, I can’t say that it does. I’m not really that attuned to it,” Felton said before praising the series’ author.

“The only thing I always remind myself is that I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world — here I am in New York — and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than ‘Potter,'” Felton explained to Variety. “And she’s responsible for that, so I’m incredibly grateful.”

Felton previously expressed his admiration for the author in a 2022 interview as she faced criticism from transgender activists for her views.

“I am quick to remind myself and others that ‘Potter,’ for some reason, has brought more people together across the world and more generations than probably anything else has in the past 20 years, and I’m quick to celebrate that,” he told The Times of London in a 2022 interview. “It came from one person, and that’s her, so I’m very grateful.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE 

Rowling’s hugely popular book series, which launched the hit film franchise which Felton starred in, has not lost its appeal with fans. 

Beyond the Broadway play, the series is also being adapted into an upcoming HBO television series.

Felton shared his excitement at reprising his Potter role all these years later with his Broadway debut.

“I think we all thought that the fandom flame might be doused over the years, but clearly it’s not,” he said Sunday. “The most exciting part is to do it live. It took nine months, more or less, to shoot a film, and this is all compact. This is all reimagined into a very loving, new type of story. And I get to be a dad, which is really fun.”

A battalion of 500 U.S. Marines are mobilizing to Los Angeles to respond to anti-immigration enforcement riots, Fox News has learned. 

The Marines will be tasked with protecting federal property and federal personnel, according to a senior defense official, and the deployment is open-ended. 

The Marines will not be carrying out a law enforcement role, but it’s unclear what their use of force rules are if protesters throw things or spit at them. 

DOZENS OF ANTI-ICE RIOTERS ARRESTED IN LA AS TRUMP SENDS IN NATIONAL GUARD TO QUELL VIOLENCE

The new deployment comes after President Donald Trump sent some 2,000 National Guardsmen to the riot-racked city over the weekend. 

The Marines are from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California. 

Moments before the deployment, Trump expressed optimism that the situation in Los Angeles is improving. 

“I mean, I think we have it very well under control,” he told reporters. “I think it would have been a very bad situation. It was heading in the wrong direction. It’s now heading in the right direction.”

The Marine mobilization is sure to draw outcry from liberal critics: California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed suit against the Trump administration on Monday for deploying the Guard. 

The governor’s office both downplayed the troop movement and called it “completely uncalled for.” 

“From our understanding, this is moving Marines from one base to another base. At this time, the information we have is that Marines are not being deployed (there is a difference between that and being mobilized). The level of escalation is completely unwarranted, uncalled for, and unprecedented — mobilizing the best in class branch of the U.S. military against its own citizens,” Newsom’s press office wrote on X. 

Newsom and the California attorney general claimed Trump and Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth “trampled over” California’s sovereignty by calling up the state’s National Guard without Newsom’s approval. 

Meanwhile Trump defended the decision on Monday, and added that if protesters spit in the face of guardsmen in Los Angeles, they’ll “be hit harder than they have ever been hit before.”

“IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT,” Trump wrote. “Such disrespect will not be tolerated!”

Federal law typically bars the U.S. military from carrying out domestic law enforcement purposes, unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act. 

Newsom claimed Trump is trying to “manufacture a crisis” and that the president is “hoping for chaos so he can justify more crackdowns, more fear, more control.”

The protests began in reaction to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the City of Angels as the Trump administration moves to make good on its promise of mass deportations. Over the weekend, protests devolved into violence that left vehicles charred to a crisp and windows smashed at the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters. 

The vast majority of pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment this year after the government reversed course on its hugely unpopular decision to cut the benefit.

Last year, only around 1.5 million people in England and Wales received the payment, which is intended to help keep their homes warm in cold weather.

But Chancellor Rachel Reeves has now announced around nine million of the UK’s 13 million pensioners will get the benefit in their bank accounts.

The new threshold includes anyone with an income of under £35,000 a year.

Reeves argued cutting the payments, worth up to £300, was a ‘tough decision but a right decision’ at the time it was made, not long after Labour’s election victory last summer.

She said: ‘It is also right that we continue to means test this payment so that it is targeted and fair, rather than restoring eligibility to everyone including the wealthiest.

‘But we have now acted to expand the eligibility of the winter fuel payment so no pensioner on a lower income will miss out.

‘This will mean over three-quarters of pensioners receiving the payment in England and Wales later this winter.’

Those who do not want to receive the payment will also be able to opt out, the Treasury said.

Age UK Charity Director Caroline Abrahams said the announcement will ‘bring some much-needed reassurance for older people and their families’.

She added: ‘Of course, we would much have preferred it had the government taken this approach last summer but we are pleased it means that older people can look ahead to the coming winter with more confidence.’

The Chancellor announced last July that the payment would only be available to those who also claim pension credit, as the government confronted what it described as a £22 billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances.

Her decision sparked an enormous backlash which is thought to have contributed to Labour’s poor performance in May’s local elections.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘This humiliating U-turn will come as scant comfort to the pensioners forced to choose between heating and eating last winter.

‘The Prime Minister should now apologise for his terrible judgment.’

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: ‘Finally the Chancellor has listened to the Liberal Democrats and the tireless campaigners in realising how disastrous this policy was, but the misery it has caused cannot be overstated.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

If you’re paying over the odds for energy, the typical advice is to switch provider – but that’s not an option for some.

Around 500,000 people in the UK are connected to a heat network, a system that supplies multiple properties from a single central source rather than each individual home.

London-based Alfonso, 39, is one of them. And like more than half of his fellow heat network customers, he feels his bills are too high.

In this week’s Metro’s Money Problem, personal finance journalist and consumer champion Sarah Davidson gives him the no-nonsense advice he needs.

The problem…

I moved into a new build rental flat last year and am really struggling with cost of heating and hot water. When we viewed the place, the letting agent mentioned it was part of an energy-efficient communal heat network, which sounded like a good thing.

However, the reality has been very different. Not only are my bills much higher than in my previous place of around the same size, no-one seems to be able to give me any answers as to why.

From what I can tell, the amount I pay is down to how much the operator bulk-buys the gas for, but my bills don’t explain how this is decided, why my unit rate is more than Ofgem’s price cap, or whether I’m paying for heating in hallways and other communal areas. It’s so confusing.

Normally I’d switch to a different provider but this isn’t an option for heat network customers, so I’m effectively locked in. Aside from reducing my consumption even further (I’m already wearing jumpers and timing my showers) or moving somewhere new, it feels like I’m out of options. Is there anything else I can do?

The advice…

An interesting and important question Alfonso, thank you for raising it.

The problem you’re facing is a serious one and it’s going to start mattering to more of us over the next few years, as in order to slash meet net zero, the government wants one in five British homes to ditch gas boilers and join a heat network by 2050. That’s 6 million households across the country.

For those who haven’t yet come across them, a heat network is a single centralised source of heating, cooling systems and hot water that supplies multiple households – from a block of flats to an entire town. The theory is that the heat network can buy energy in bulk, thereby keeping costs down for each household.

In practice, as you are clearly only too aware, that’s far from the reality.

There are several reasons for this. First, heat networks have been unregulated for years, making (some of) them effectively a wild west. Currently, there are no rules dictating how heat networks set their prices, why or when they can increase prices, or even what they charge for, so you may well be paying for heating communal areas without being aware.

Second, as you correctly point out, they don’t have to stick to the Ofgem energy price cap, and can charge whatever they like without explanation. This also means that when wholesale energy prices are very high – as they have been in recent years – heat networks will likely pass that extra cost straight onto homeowners and tenants.

And third, not all heat networks are particularly efficient – they can lose an awful lot of heat in the process of transferring it from the central source to your home, meaning you are probably being lumped with the bill for that wastage on top of what you’re actually using.

Now, your question is what you can do to bring the costs of your heating down. For the moment, the answer is possibly not a huge amount more than you’re doing already. However, if you haven’t yet, try these options:

• Contact your landlord explaining the situation. Ask if they will agree to subsidise your heating bills for a period of time – they might even be prepared to take on some of the cost permanently if it means you stay a tenant.
• Tell your heat network you’re struggling – they might be able to lower your bills temporarily or have some other form of support available. Don’t hold your breath but do ask the question.
• Check whether your electricity is supplied centrally. Heat networks only provide heating, hot water and air cooling systems, and some buildings may allow individuals to switch electricity provider. Electricity is more expensive than gas, so switching to a cheaper tariff is likely to see you save. Additionally, being with a mainstream electricity supplier will also mean you’re protected by the Energy Price Cap for this part of your bill. Take a look at the Energy Saving Trust or use any of the comparison sites to find the best deals on offer.

The usual advice also applies: turn off appliances when not in use instead of leaving on standby; only use the washing machine and dishwasher when you’ve got a full load and run a lower temperature wash; shower rather than bath; use an air fryer or microwave to cook smaller portions instead of the oven.

Consider asking your landlord to have a smart meter installed too, as that will give you an accurate real time view of the energy you’re using and what it’s costing you. This will help you understand where you can make tweaks to keep costs down.

The other thing you can now do is complain – and with rather more teeth than you would have had just a couple of months ago. The law changed at the start of April, meaning you now have the option to challenge your heat network bills with the Energy Ombudsman.

More rules will start to come in from January next year, when the industry regulator Ofgem takes on responsibility for heat networks. This should mean customers get better service, more reliable energy supplies, fair pricing and bills that are easier to understand.

Right now, that may be cold comfort for you, but it does at least hint at a fairer future for heat network customers.

In the meantime, talk to your landlord. If it’s a choice between them covering £20 a month of your heating bills or losing you as a tenant, I reckon they’ll go with the former.

Sarah Davidson is an award-winning financial editor and head of research at WPB

Got a money worry or dilemma? Email sarah.davidson@metro.co.uk

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