"It's all depressing to be honest". Those are the words of one Labour MP, hitherto proudly supportive of the government, as they returned to Parliament on Tuesday morning.
The anger among Labour MPs in the aftermath of the party's local elections drubbing was striking in its breadth and depth. The evidence so far is that it did not dissipate over the long weekend.
The focus of many MPs' rage – and it is rage – is the means-testing of the winter fuel allowance.
It is not just the view of critical MPs that this harmed Labour in the elections, but of cabinet ministers too.
Earlier Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Breakfast: "I'm not going to insult your viewers by pretending that winter fuel didn't come up on the doorstep, of course it did, and I know that people aren't happy about winter fuel allowance in lots of cases."
Government sources spent Tuesday morning scotching the suggestion that a formal review of the policy is under way, and by the afternoon they were adamant.
"There will not be a change to the government's policy," the prime minister's official spokesman said.
