An anti-Sir Keir Starmer song could become a Top 10 hit later this week as it continues to climb the singles charts.

Freezing This Christmas, a parody of the 1974 Mud hit Lonely This Christmas, criticises the Government's decision to strip 10 million pensioners of their winter fuel allowance.

The track was written by marketer Chris Middleton under the mock band name Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers, with all proceeds going towards charities helping the elderly.

Freezing This Christmas entered last week's Official Singles Chart at number 37 despite the BBC's refusal to play the song, as Wham!'s Last Christmas became Christmas number one.

Now the protest song is on for a stronger showing in the final singles chart of 2024, with the song having risen to number 13 - a jump of 24 places - in this week's Official Chart Update.

The Official Charts company said: "Political protest track Freezing This Christmas by Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers rises 24 places to Number 13 as the most-downloaded track of the week so far."

Last Friday, Freezing This Christmas topped both the sales and downloads charts amid a spirited grassroots campaign on social media.

Lyrics to the parody include: "It'll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it'll be freezing this Christmas while Keir Starmer's warm. It'll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas."

The song has now raised more than £50,000 for Age UK, with more than 2,800 people making up the donations.

More than 1.4 million people have watched a music video for the song, which was written in just under an hour, on YouTube.

Mr Middleton said over the weekend: "We have officially hit my stretch target of £50,000 for Age UK! Thank you all so much for your support. When I initially set the target at £5,000, I was worried I wouldn't even get £100. You've absolutely all blown me away."

The song features vocals from Dean Ager, a Frank Sinatra impersonator who regularly performs at care homes.

Rob Davis, a 77-year-old original member of Mud, has endorsed the spoof of his band's most prominent track.

Mr Davis said of the winter fuel allowance cut: "That's not a good thing. I mean, there are a lot of very broke people over here. It's very hard."

The BBC played the entries on either side of Freezing This Christmas during last week's chart show but continued to refuse to give the song airtime. This is despite the fact there are no BBC policies stopping it from playing protest songs or political tracks.

The corporation said decisions about song selection are made on an ad-hoc basis and that the chart show is a "factual account of what the British public have been listening to".

A BBC spokesman said: "Decisions about which tracks we play are made on a case-by-case basis in line with what our audience expect to hear."

Labour is standing by its decision to restrict the winter fuel allowance to retirees who already receive pension credit despite a fierce political backlash.

There was embarrassment for Sir Keir at his party's annual conference in September after members, with the support of trade unions, voted in favour of reversing the policy.

A legal challenge has also been filed by Unite, the trade union, while a number of backbench Labour MPs continue to urge the Prime Minister to rethink the winter fuel raid.

Jon Trickett, a Labour backbencher, voted against the government on the issue in the Commons earlier this year, while 52 MPs did not participate in the vote.

While seven of these were ministers paired with absent opposition figures, at least two dozen of these MPs are believed to privately oppose the policy.

An opinion poll by Savanta in October found 59 per cent of British adults oppose the policy, with more Labour voters opposed to the move (46 per cent) than in favour (35 per cent).