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MPs will vote on Tuesday afternoon on the government’s plans to cut the winter fuel allowance for around 10 million people.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the decision in July as part of measures to fill what she called a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances.
The policy has faced criticism from many Labour MPS, but Sir Keir Starmer said Labour must “secure the foundations” of the economy.
Sir Keir said: “If you’re asking whether I recognise it’s a tough decision I absolutely recognise the tough decision. If you’re asking, would I want to make this decision, the answer is no, but I did not want to inherit a £22bn, and I’m not prepared to walk past that.”
Some 17 Labour MPs have signed a motion put forward by Neil Duncan-Jordan calling on the government to delay implementing the cut.
On Monday, the president of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton, Matt Wrack, warned that a second wave of austerity will boost the rise of the far right in Britain’s left-behind communities and spoke out against the winter fuel allowance cut.
Key Points
- Unite chief urges Keir Starmer to U-turn on ‘picking pockets of pensioners’
- Rachel Reeves faces Labour rebels in closed-door meeting
- Labour warned in 2017 that winter fuel cut would cause 4,000 deaths
Age UK director warns winter fuel cut is ‘unfair and unsustainable'
The director of Age UK has warned that the winter fuel payment cut is “unfair” and “unsustainable”, after new analysis by her charity suggested around 500,000 more pensioners on low incomes than previously feared will be hit by the cut.
Caroline Abrahams said: “New Age UK analysis shows that when we said we thought two million pensioners were set to lose their Winter Fuel Payment and would struggle badly this winter as a result, we underestimated the scale of the problem caused by the government’s policy approach.”
She added: “This is unfair, and it is also unsustainable, so it’s no wonder there’s growing public concern. We would like to thank everyone who is standing with struggling pensioners this winter by signing Age UK’s Petition – which has gone through the half a million mark now – and to encourage everyone else to show solidarity by signing up too.
“As the weather chills – as it is forecast to do as early as this week – older people on low incomes will be trying to decide whether they can afford to turn their heating on or not. Our biggest fear at Age UK is that many in the two and half million group will choose not to even try to stay adequately warm, for fear of a fuel bill they won’t be able to pay.
“The fact that appreciably more older people are going to face this dilemma as a direct result of a policy decision from our incoming government is extremely regrettable, and not at all what we expected. But there is still time for Ministers to change their minds.”
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 07:59 1725951055State pension set to rise by more than £400 next year
The state pension is set to rise by four per cent in April, giving an extra £460 a year to recipients.
The pension triple lock means the payment rises by the highest of average weekly earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent.
Figures published on Tuesday indicated that average weekly earnings increased by four per cent in the three months to July. While inflation data has not yet been published for September, in July it stood at 2.2 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The latest boost comes amid mounting pressure on the government to scrap its plan to axe winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has more in this breaking report:
State pension set to rise by more than £400 next year
This comes amid mounting pressure on the government to scrap its plan to axe winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 07:50 1725950954Business secretary urges Labour MPs to back winter fuel cut for ‘better future'
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has urged Labour MPs to back the government’s cut to the winter fuel allowance in the vote on the plans later today.
Speaking on Times Radio, the minister said: “Fixing the foundations of the country isn’t just about difficult things like this, which are decisions that ideally you wouldn’t have to make. It’s about how you get to a better future.
“And that is exactly what we’re trying to do and that is what I would ask all colleagues to recognise and support today.”
Mr Reynolds pointed to commitments like compensation for postmasters and money for the steel industry in stressing the dire state of the public finances.
More pensioners on low incomes than initially feared will be hit by cut, Age UK warns
More pensioners on low incomes will be hit by the government’s cut to the winter fuel allowance than initially feared, bringing the total to 2.5 million, new analysis by Age UK suggests – up from its previous estimate of 2 million.
Analysing data from the Department for Work and Pensions, the charity now believes some 1.6 million people living in poverty will lose their winter fuel payment as they are not receiving any of the qualifying benefits.
A further 900,000 older people whose incomes are just £55 per week above the poverty line will also lose the payment, the charity said.
This new figure also excludes the unknown number of pensioners with higher incomes who are sick or disabled and who face unavoidably high energy bills as a result.
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 07:44 1725948060‘No discussion’ of softening impact of winter fuel cut at cabinet, says No 10
There was no discussion of softening the impact of the winter fuel cut at Cabinet on Monday, Downing Street said after a Home Office minister suggested the policy could be eased.
Whipping for the vote over the Government's plans to scrap the winter fuel allowance for all but the country's poorest pensioners was also not discussed at Cabinet, Downing Street said.
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 07:01 1725944460Wes Streeting ‘not remotely happy’ voting to ‘take money away’ from pensioners
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he is “not remotely happy” on having to vote to “take money away” from pensioners through cutting winter fuel allowance.
Mr Streeting did however share the government’s argument that the move is essential to balance public finances as the prime minister did not rule out suspending MPs for defying the government in Parliament.
Wes Streeting ‘not remotely happy’ voting to ‘take money away’ from pensioners
But the Health Secretary argued a move to cut the winter fuel allowance was essential in order to balance public finances.
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 06:01 1725940980500,000 sign Age UK petition urging Starmer to rethink winter fuel cut
Half a million people have now signed an Age UK petition calling on Sir Keir Starmer’s government to rethink its plans to cut the winter fuel payment.
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 05:03 1725937320Full report: Winter fuel payment cut will put pensioners in hospital, Labour MPs fear
Labour frontbenchers and MPs have reportedly expressed fears that chancellor Rachel Reeves’s “brutal” plan to scrap the winter fuel allowance for all but the poorest pensioners will put more older people in hospital.
With MPs set to vote on the policy on Tuesday, Labour politicians have expressed their own grave concerns amid a flood of worried emails from constituents reported by The Independent to have shocked new MPs in particular.
In remarks to The Guardian, anonymous Labour MPs lined up to relay the sheer volume of the correspondence they have received on the issue, with one saying: “I don’t think there is a Labour MP who isn’t worried ... I’ve had more people stopping me in the street than over Brexit. Pensioners just pleading that we don’t do this.”
One cabinet source complained to the paper that the policy “hasn’t even been thought through properly”, warning: “We’re going to end up with more old people in hospital or care as a result, with all the costs involved in that.”
Read the full report here:
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 04:02 1725933840Pensioner, 90, fears he won’t make it through winter due to fuel payment cuts
Labour MP says ‘biggest worry’ is cut will cost lives
Becoming the latest Labour MP to speak out on the record, Rosie Duffield told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday: “I think all MPs have been inundated with emails. It’s not just those constituents affected – it’s also their families and people who are really concerned.”
Ms Duffield added: “I’ve had letters – I think we all have – from people who are suffering ongoing illness like cancer, and their doctors are telling them how important it is to keep warm.
“Human life is our job to protect and we know that these people are going to feel cold and it’s going to affect their health. That’s my biggest worry – that we’re going to see people dying ... it just feels particularly brutal.”
According to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, some 4,950 excess deaths the winter before last were caused by living in cold homes.
Andy Gregory10 September 2024 02:02 Newer1 / 5OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
