Keir Starmer continues to face a fierce backlash over scrapping winter fuel payments for 10million pensioners as PM boasts of making Britain an ‘energy superpower’ _ Hieuuk
Sir Keir Starmer is continuing to face a backlash over scrapping winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners as he boasts of making Britain an ‘energy superpower’.
The Prime Minister visited a wind farm in Wales today as he promoted Labour’s plans to establish Great British Energy – a state-owned clean energy firm.
He pointed to Wales’s ‘natural resources’, ‘shallow seas’, and ‘skilled’ workforce as providing a ‘massive opportunity’ to boost the country’s energy production.
But, as he joined with new Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan at the Brechfa Forest Wind Farm near Carmathen, Sir Keir was accused of a ‘cruel’ attack on pensioners.
The Government is axing winter fuel payments for around 10 million pensioners as Chancellor Rachel Reeves looks to fill a £22billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances.
Previously the payments were universal for all pensioners in England and Wales but they will now only be available for those on means-tested benefits.
The Tories blasted Labour for ‘desperate’ attempts to ‘mitigate’ the impact of their decision after ministers launched a new awareness campaign.
Sir Keir Starmer is continuing to face a backlash over scrapping winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners as he boasts of making Britain an ‘energy superpower
As he joined with new Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan at the Brechfa Forest Wind Farm near Carmathen, Sir Keir was accused of a ‘cruel’ attack on pensioners
The PM pointed to Wales’s ‘natural resources’, ‘shallow seas’, and ‘skilled’ workforce as providing a ‘massive opportunity’ to boost the country’s energy production
Pensioners are being urged to check if they are eligible for pension credit, which qualifies them for the winter fuel payment worth up to £300.
They would need to apply by December 21, the last date for making a backdated claim for pension credit, to receive the fuel payment.
Around 1.4 million pensioners are already receiving pension credit but the Department for Work and Pensions estimates up to 880,000 further households are eligible for the support.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will work with local authorities and charities for a ‘pension credit week of action’ in September and aim to identify eligible households yet to claim.
Ms Kendall said: ‘The £22billion black hole in the public finances we have inherited has required us to take difficult decisions, but I am determined to ensure low-income pensioners are supported.
‘That’s why I urge any pensioner, or their loved ones, to check if they could get pension credit.
‘This Government remains completely committed to pensioners which is why we’re protecting the income of over 12 million pensioners through the triple lock.’
But Tory MP Laura Trott, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, called on Labour to ‘come clean’ about the ‘damage’ of their action.
‘The Government is absurdly trying to claim it is committed to pensioners,’ she said.
‘The only thing it is committed to is increasing pensioner poverty whilst spending billions acquiescing to every union demand.
‘Instead of desperately trying to mitigate the impact of their own decisions, the Chancellor should come clean and publish the internal impact assessment so the public can truly see the damage of this policy.’
Priti Patel compared Labour’s ‘cruel and nasty’ attack on pensioners to the Government’s recent agreement of bumper pay deals for millions of public sector workers
More than 400,000 people have now signed a petition, organised by charity Age UK, calling for the Government to ‘halt’ their change to winter fuel payments
More than 400,000 people have now signed a petition, organised by charity Age UK, calling for the Government to ‘halt’ their change to winter fuel payments.
Tory leadership contender Priti Patel compared Labour’s ‘cruel and nasty’ attack on pensioners to the Government’s recent agreement of bumper pay deals for millions of public sector workers.
‘Starmer’s cruel and nasty plan to subsidise his trade union paymasters by stripping millions of pensioners of their winter fuel allowance is the clearest demonstration of Labour’s real agenda,’ Dame Priti wrote in an article for the Daily Express.
‘It shows that the Labour Party will never change. They will punish hard-working people and instead give taxpayers’ cash to any union baron who asks for it.’
Speaking in Wales today, Sir Keir revealed how he is eyeing Wales’s natioral resources as part of Labour’s bid to decarbonise the UK’s electricity grid by 2030.
The PM told journalists: ‘There’s a huge opportunity here for Wales which has got the resources, it’s got the natural resources, it’s got the shallow seas, and it’s got the skilled people here in Wales that can operate this.
‘This is a massive opportunity and we intend to work together to take that opportunity on behalf of everybody living in Wales.’
Ahead of his visit, Sir Keir vowed to out Wales ‘at the very heart of our mission to make Britain an energy superpower’.
‘We have inherited an incoherent energy policy that has left homes up and down the country vulnerable to rocketing energy bills,’ he said.
‘But the Welsh Government has made important strides that we can now build on, and I am determined that Wales is at the very heart of our mission to make Britain an energy superpower, with renewables powering homes right across the country.
‘Great British Energy will put the whole of the UK on the right path to deliver the independence we need, while helping to deliver lower bills for households and businesses and creating the next generation of skilled jobs.’
