POLL: Should Labour have scrapped winter gas funds for tens of millions of OAPs?
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing the biggest revolt of his premiership so far after MPs voted on scrapping winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners.
The Labour leader won the vote in the House of Commons yesterday with a motion to cancel his plan defeated by 348 votes to 228 – a majority of 120. But some of his own MPs refused to back his decision to scrap winter fuel allowance for most OAPs amid a growing backlash. Shouts of ‘shame’ could be heard as the result was announced.
Veteran left-winger Jon Trickett was the only Labour MP to rebel against the Government, along with the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories. No votes were recorded for 52 Labour MPs and it is understood around a dozen were not given permission to be absent.
With around 10 million pensioners set to lose their winter fuel payments under the plans, we’re asking should Labour have scrapped winter fuel payments for millions of OAPs?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the cuts were necessary because of the previous Tory government’s ‘undisclosed’ overspending – but charities have criticised the move, saying it could result in a ‘eating or heating’ dilemma for many.
The change means those not receiving pension credit – available to OAPs whose income falls below a certain threshold – or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payments worth between £100 and £300. In 2022-23, the latest figures available, just more than 11.1 million pensioners were eligible for winter fuel payment in England and Wales.
But as of last November, only 1.2m were eligible for pension credits. That means about 9.9m will miss out in England and Wales. The change does not apply In Scotland, where responsibility for the payment is set to be transferred to the Scottish Government this winter.
The cuts are most likely to affect pensioners in affluent areas, with more than nine in 10 pensioners missing out on fuel payments this year in some parts of the country.
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Charities have criticised the move, with Age UK warning that up to two million elderly people who just miss out on receiving a payment could face some stark choices this winter.
Age UK says that one in three pensioners who are entitled to pension credit – the qualifying benefit for a winter fuel payment – don’t claim it. The charity estimates that more than 800,000 elderly people on low incomes who do not receive pension credit will now also lose their winter fuel payments.
Around a million additional elderly people with incomes below £50 per week will also be hit hard by the loss of the payment, the charity estimates. Age UK says the cuts will also hit a third group living in energy-inefficient homes – or with illnesses that make it necessary for them to stay warm – who may struggle to find the extra money to heat their homes.
Charity director Caroline Abrahams CBE said: “We strongly oppose the means-testing of Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) because our initial estimate is that as many as two million pensioners who badly need the money to stay warm this winter will not receive it and will be in trouble as a result – yet at the other end of the spectrum well-off older people will scarcely notice the difference – a social injustice.
“It is well established that pensioners tend to do everything possible to avoid going into debt, so if they are worried about their future energy bills, we know their likely response will be to ration their fuel use and economise by reducing their spending on other essentials. This proposed policy change is therefore certain to result in more older people experiencing a horrible ‘eating or heating’ dilemma.”
