Senior Conservative MP hits out at Sir Keir Starmer’s party ahead of crunch winter fuel vote.
Keir Starmer says government will have to be unpopular
Labour “clearly planned to betray” pensioners before the election, a veteran Tory MP claimed last night.
Andrew Rosindell said the “cruel” decision to scrap winter fuel payments for around 10 million older people was not made recently.
In a warning ahead of a Commons vote on the proposals tomorrow, he added there will be “no regard” for OAPs under the new government.
Writing in today’s Daily Express, Mr Rosindell said: “It is a vindictive move by the Labour Party, who blame this decision on the economic black hole which has magically appeared since taking office.
“It is highly suspect the 2024 Labour manifesto was the first in 14 years to make no mention of the winter fuel payment at all.
“It is entirely obvious to all this was not a decision made recently.
“Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves clearly planned to betray our pensioners long before July 4.
“It is a heartless move by the Left to abandon our elderly, struggling to keep warm this winter, but at the same time, hand over inflation-busting pay rises to the public sector to appease union masters.
“It seems that in this new Labour era there will be no regard for the older generation.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: GETTY)
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride warned that pensioners “will not forget this in a hurry”.
He told the Express: “Labour MPs have an opportunity to stand up to Sir Keir Starmer, who seems determined to leave vulnerable pensioners in the cold, and vote against his cruel plans.
“Not backing our vote would be a slap in the face to 10 million pensioners who will miss out this winter. Pensioners forced to choose between heating and eating will not forget this in a hurry if Labour MPs don’t see sense.”
It comes as the Prime Minister admitted his Government will be “unpopular” due to decisions it has to make to plug what he claims is a £22billion black hole in the public purse left by the Conservatives.
Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC‘s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “We’re going to have to be unpopular. Popular decisions aren’t tough, they are easy.
“I’m talking about tough decisions, things the last government ran away from. I’m convinced that because they’ve run away from difficult decisions, we haven’t got the change we need for the country.”
Sir Keir refused to say if Labour MPs will be stripped of the whip if they vote against cuts to winter fuel payments.
He said: “That will be a matter for the chief whip.We’re going into a vote. I’m glad we’re having a vote. It’s very important for Parliament to speak on this.”
Age UK director Caroline Abrahams warned the PM removing the payment would be a “real body blow” with pensioners having “very l ittle to look forward to” as they struggle to keep warm.
She said: “We know affluent older people won’t miss it, but for their counterparts who are barely scraping by, this loss of £200 or £300 will be a real body blow.
“For them, the decision spells deep anxiety about how they will afford to keep their home warm, as well as putting food on the table. Most are determined not to go into debt and make every possible sacrifice to avoid it, even if it means spending long periods in bed to stay warm, or eating sandwiches rather than hot meals.”
The annual payment, a lump sum given to all pensioners and introduced by ex-Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 1997, will be means tested from September 16.
Only those in receipt of benefits and pension credit will qualify, but almost 900,000 people who are eligible for the latter do not claim it.
Off-putting factors include the form being many pages long and not many can access it online.
The allowance will be unchanged at £200 for those aged between 66 and 79 and £300 for those over 80.
But the number of those entitled to a payment will drop from 11.4 million to 1.5 million. Overall, the cut is expected to save £1.4billion against the £10billion that will be spent to fund public sector pay rises for previously striking doctors and train drivers.
Meanwhile, household energy bills are set to rise by 10% from October 1, leaving average annual gas and electricity costs of £1,717 unaffordable for millions.
An Age UK petition that is calling for a U-turn by the Government has topped 500,000 signatures.
And opposition is building among Labour MPs. New representative Neil Duncan-Jordan, who used to work for the National Pensioners Convention, warns it is being imposed “without prior consultation or without an impact assessment, and not with sufficient time to put in place a proper take-up campaign for pension credit”.
He said: “Colder homes make older people susceptible to poor health, including hypothermia, respiratory and circulatory disease.”
His Labour colleague Rachel Maskell added: “The mitigation put in by the Government is insufficient. We have to go back to why [Gordon Brown] introduced this. He was emphatic he didn’t want people to go cold over winter. We absolutely should uphold those values.”
And another Labour MP Clive Lewis added: “Cutting the winter fuel allowance is going to put a lot of pensioners into real hardship. The universal nature of this is its strength.There is no ‘cliff-edge’.”
Other Labour MPs expected to defy the government include Jon Trickett, Nadia Whittome, Kim Johnson, Ian Lavery, Kate Osborne and Rosie Duffield. But Sir Keir has a working majority of 167.
Meanwhile, crossbench peer Baroness Altmann, 68, the former pensions minister, has tabled a “fatal” parliamentary motion in an attempt to kill off the plan, calling it “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen”.
She added: “The Government must put this decision on hold pending a proper impact assessment and mitigation measures.
“At the very least this decision should be delayed to make proper assessments of the potential hardship and work out mitigations carefully. It is only fair to warn people and also to decide how to properly target help that is vital to so many.
“Those pensioners I am most worried about are those who have already cut their spending to the bone, who live in energy inefficient homes, who spend most of their time at home, and have no way of replacing this lost money as energy bills rise.
“All they can do is turn down or turn off the heating.”
Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, is set to meet Chancellor Rachel Reeves today. She announced in July that the previously universal payments of up to £300 a year would be restricted from this winter.
Mr Lewis said: “While there’s an argument for ending its universality due to tight national finances, it’s being squeezed to too narrow a group – just those on benefits and pension credit. Yet again, those just above the thresholds will be hardest hit.”
Matt Wrack, president of the Trades Union Congress, warned sir Keir that its members also have questions for the Government over the plan as it holds its annual conference this week.
He said: “There will be concerns about the winter fuel payment, undoubtedly, as there is about child poverty and other issues facing us.
“So, yes, Keir Starmer will face debate and discussion from the trade unions on those issues.”
The Tories said Labour had been “dragged” to the Commons to try and publicly justify its “cruel decision”.
Andrew Rosindell warned pensioners will be plunged into fuel poverty (Image: PARLIAMENT)
Comment by Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell
The cruel decision taken by this new Labour Government has left our nation’s pensioners facing the terrifying prospect of choosing between a warm home, essential social care costs, or food on their plate.
After spending the majority of their lives working for the good of future generations and contributing to society, they are being rewarded by having one of their key support systems ripped away from under them, with no prior warning, and little reassurance of any additional measures being introduced.
The winter fuel payment has been in place now for 26 years and its removal will affect over 10 million of our pensioners; with almost 20% of these already living under the poverty line.
As Member of Parliament for Romford in Essex, where I have lived all my life, we have the highest population of over-65s across Greater London.
I have received hundreds of letters from elderly people who are now stricken with worry over how this will affect their health, warmth, and their quality of life.
It cannot be right that those who have worked all their lives, and in many cases, served their country, are now fighting just to stay warm in their own homes.
It is a vindictive move by the Labour Party, who blame this decision on the economic ‘black hole’ which has magically appeared since taking office.
It is highly suspect that the 2024 Labour manifesto was the first in fourteen years to make no mention of the winter fuel payment at all.
It is entirely obvious to all that this was not a decision made recently. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves had clearly planned to betray our pensioners long before the 4th of July.
It is a heartless move by the left to abandon our elderly, struggling to keep warm this winter, but at the same time, hand over inflation-busting pay rises to the public sector to appease their union masters.
It seems that in this new Labour era there will be no regard for the older generation.
This harrowing decision will cause hardship for so many of our senior citizens who never expected to be hit so hard in the pocket by such ‘caring, sharing’ socialists.
Our pensioners deserve better, and I will continue to stand up for them.
