Campaigners and MPs are demanding assurances that Sir Keir Starmer’s partial u-turn over winter gasoline funds can be enforce earlier than pensioners endure one other chilly winter. The Prime Minister faces requires readability after indicating the means-test threshold for funds of as much as £300 can be elevated, in order that extra aged folks obtain the cash. He has didn’t reveal what the brand new threshold can be or when the change will come into impact, saying solely that particulars can be introduced at a “fiscal event” such because the autumn Budget assertion.
There are fears pensioners might have to attend for greater than a 12 months for funds to be reinstated as a result of modifications can be delayed by ageing Whitehall pc methods. Some Labour MPs are urging the Prime Minister to carry out a full u-turn and return to a system the place each pensioner will get the profit. The determination to impose means-testing was one of many first bulletins by Chancellor Rachel Reeves after Labour’s landslide election victory final 12 months.
Conservative chief Badenoch has written to the Prime Minister demanding to know whether or not the reversal would “come into effect in time for payments to be made for this winter”, given a price range may very well be “six months away”.
In her letter, she warned: “Pensioners are typically living on fixed incomes. They need to be able to plan ahead. We have heard from many who have suffered through the past winter as a result of your Government’s callous decision to remove their winter fuel payments. Some have had to choose between heating and eating.”
And Labour MP Rachael Maskell, a vocal critic of the means-testing coverage, warned: “It could mean that people would then go cold for a further winter.”
Former Labour Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls mentioned Sir Keir risked creating a brand new row as a result of any new means-testing threshold would nonetheless create winners and losers. He mentioned: “If they simply say, ‘let’s adjust the threshold, let’s raise the threshold from, say, 11,000 to 13,000’ you’re still going to have the same cliff edge problem, people losing £300 if their income goes up by £1. … that is politically a mistake.”
Campaigners the National Pensioners Convention referred to as for the reinstatement of the winter gasoline cost for all pensioners and a few Labour MPs had been final night time publicly urging the Government to scrap means-testing totally. Backbencher Brian Leishman mentioned: “I would like ideally, everyone to receive the full payment.”
Another marketing campaign group, Later Life Ambitions, mentioned any new threshold should be excessive sufficient to make sure money went to each pensioner that wanted it and prompt a means-testing threshold of £31,000.
Spokesperson Sally Tsoukaris mentioned: “We don’t support means-testing, but it appears the Government is unwilling to carry out a full U-turn.
“As a result we are urging the Chancellor to increase the threshold to a reasonable level.”
There was open frustration in Labour ranks after Keir Starmer’s MPs had been ordered to defend the coverage for months, just for the Prime Minister to announce modifications following disastrous native election outcomes on May 1.
Cat Eccles, a Labour MP first elected in 2024, mentioned she raised issues privately with the Chancellor final 12 months. She informed Times Radio: “It’s only now or down the line after we’ve had those local election results that all of a sudden, they’re all ears to their MPs.”
She added: “Why have we just been put through this drama for the last nine months?”
Backbenchers fearful about different insurance policies comparable to cuts to incapacity advantages at the moment are stepping up requires extra u-turns.
Left-winger Ian Lavery, a former Labour Party Chair, mentioned: “The government must urgently re-think not only its position on the Winter Fuel Allowance but its entire direction of travel.”
And Diane Abbott, one other left-wing MP, mentioned: “The Labour leadership should review other planned cuts. They are an attack on the most vulnerable and they damage Labour too.”
Announcing the change of path on Wednesday, Sir Keir mentioned he understood “that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners”.
He added: “As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that, as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2059062/fury-pensioners-could-be-forced