On Monday night, Gordon Brown faces a crucial showdown over Labour’s plans to “squeeze” the benefits of nine million pensioners – it is expected that the government will save half a billion pounds. 

The Government has proposed freezing part of the state pension from April, yet is telling hard-up retirees they are getting a good deal.

Although the basic state pension of £92.25 a week is set to rise by 2.5 per cent, Chancellor Alistair Darling decided not to apply the hike to the other top-ups such as the new state second pension that make up the total take-home package.

The move will hit millions, and with inflation now standing at 3.5 per cent, the Liberal Democrats claim it amounts to a cut in real terms.

  The Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg is hopeful that he can persuade Labour backbenchers to join a vote against the freeze in a Commons motion tomorrow night.

  Nick Clegg told the Sunday Express last night: “It amounts to a huge pension’s betrayal.  

“You’ve got nine million pensioners receiving letters telling them what’s going to happen to their pension from April and they think they’ve been promised a rise from Brown, but in fact when you look at the small print what they’ll see is actually a real terms cut.

“It’s about half a billion pounds less for those nine million pensioners than they should be entitled to.

“That’s short-changing nine million pensioners to the tune of about £60 each for this coming year.

“It’s outrageous that Brown and Darling are trying to describe a cut as a rise.”

In a swipe at Labour’s election slogan, he added: “This is not a future fairer for all, this is a deception.”

He said that £60 “was not a small amount”. 

Nick Clegg also said: “We got a letter from a pensioner couple in Sheffield who found it so difficult to heat their home on a cold day, they travel the bus around Sheffield just to stay warm.

“Tell that couple that £60 is not a lot, particularly with the cold weather and the bills that couple have to face.”