Labour Under Fire: Thousands of Pensioners Left in the Cold as Winter Fuel Payments Axed

Keir Starmer’s government is under fire for cutting the winter fuel payment, a financial help for pensioners during cold months. The Conservatives have criticized Labour, saying they don’t know how many elderly people are still waiting for this payment.

Last year, Rachel Reeves, a Labour official, removed the winter fuel payment, which was worth up to £300, for around 10 million pensioners. This decision has caused a lot of anger.

Questions in Parliament

In a recent meeting, Helen Whately, a Conservative MP, asked how many people were still waiting for their winter fuel payment. Torsten Bell, a Labour minister, replied that everyone who applied for pension credit by December 21 would get their payment once their application was processed.

But Whately argued that Bell didn’t have the answers to key questions, like how many people were stuck waiting, how many had sought help from local councils, or how many had ended up in hospitals due to the cold. She demanded a full review of the decision to cut the payment.

Bell responded by promising to work hard to prevent a repeat of past mistakes, like the rise in pensioner poverty under the previous government. He also said details about pension credit applications would be published by the end of February.

Calls for Change

The Daily Express newspaper has urged Rachel Reeves to reverse her decision to scrap the payment. Meanwhile, some Labour MPs are questioning whether the new rules for the winter fuel payment are fair. One MP, Neil Duncan-Jordan, pointed out that around 800,000 pensioners who are eligible for pension credit don’t claim it, meaning they also miss out on the winter fuel payment. He asked if the new system was working.

Bell admitted that many pensioners had missed out on help under the previous Conservative government but said efforts were being made to improve the situation.

Another Labour MP, Rachael Maskell, suggested creating a special taskforce to tackle pensioner poverty, as government figures show only about 5% of eligible people are claiming pension credit. Bell agreed that it’s important to understand how pensioner poverty has changed over time, noting that it had decreased under the last Labour government but increased under the Conservatives.