内容摘要：The venue is playing host to popular DJs like Ben Hemsley and electronic duo Gorgon City.

The venue is playing host to popular DJs like Ben Hemsley and electronic duo Gorgon City.

But Lucy Powell told BBC Breakfast she could not see a scenario in which Ms Reeves abandons her plan, and warned there could have been a "run on the pound" had the government not taken action on public finances.Ms Powell acknowledged that losing the payment would make things even tighter for pensioners, but defended the government for taking "really difficult decisions" such as targeting winter fuel payments.

"The reason we are doing that is because the deficit was much higher than anyone thought, spending was higher than anyone thought," she said."If we hadn't taken that action we'd have seen a run on the pound, the economy crashing and the people who pay the heaviest price for that are the poorest, including pensioners and those on fixed incomes. That stability is really important for living standards."She said Labour's commitment to the state pension triple lock and focus on economic stability would protect pensioners in the long term.

Asked if she could see any scenario where the winter fuel payments decision could be reversed, Ms Powell said: "I don't."Pressed over whether she agreed with Ms Powell's comments about "a run on the pound", Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told BBC Breakfast: "Had we not got to grips with the public finances overall then there could have been serious consequences for the economy."

However, she added that the Commons leader was "making a wider point about the need to get the public finances under control and the winter fuel allowance was element of that".

The government's resistance to rethinking the policy comes after a slew of criticism in recent days.Lenders have been locked in intense competition for borrowers in recent weeks, which has led to consistent falls in the interest rates charged on new fixed mortgage deals.

This has led to more activity among buyers and sellers in the UK housing market.But one lender, the Coventry Building Society, is putting up mortgage rates on Friday, and others are expected to follow suit in the coming days.

“The mortgage market has seen rates falling in recent months but that may be coming to an abrupt halt," said David Hollingworth, associate director at broker L&C Mortgages.About 1.6 million existing borrowers had relatively cheap fixed-rate deals expiring this year. Hundreds of thousands of potential first-time buyers have been hoping to get a place of their own with their first mortgage. All would welcome low mortgage rates.