'We may be old, but we don't want to be cold': pensioners' fury at winter fuel cut

Pensioners protesting outside the Labour Party Conference
-Credit: (Image: Liverpool ECHO)


Merseyside pensioners braved torrential rain outside the Labour Party conference this afternoon to voice their anger over the government's cuts to the winter fuel allowance. While Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves made her big conference speech, dozens of pensioners waved placards and chanted "winter fuel cut go away, tax the rich and make them pay". One placard read: "Scouse pensioners have warm hearts. Starmer's heart is cold as ice. Labour not welcome in Liverpool."

In July, the chancellor announced plans to scrap winter fuel payments for around 10 million pensioners. The hugely controversial move means that all pensioners aside from those in receipt of pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get winter fuel payments worth between £100 and £300.

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Among the pensioners the ECHO spoke to today outside the conference building, there was significant concern - and real anger - over the cuts to the allowance. Anne San, 67, from Merseyside Pensioners' Organisation, lives in Crosby. She spoke for many people present today when she said: "We may be old, but we don't want to be cold."

Anne continued: "We need to protect our elderly. These are people who have worked all their lives, people who are older than me have gone though wars. They shouldn't have to struggle at this time of life. Worrying about whether to heat or eat.

"It's appalling - the Labour government has done everyone a disservice. Why doesn't he do something about the billions that isn't paid in tax by these big corporations? You can't be hitting back at the most vulnerable and the old. It's just so wrong."

Anne says she doesn't need the winter fuel payment herself, but came today to show solidarity with those that do need it. "I can afford to heat my home," she said. "I'm here for the people who can't afford to heat their home. I had a very poor childhood, I remember my mum not being able to pay gas and electricity bills."

Susan Robinson, Myra Gilbertson and Helen Ball from the Kensington Fields Community Association
Susan Robinson, Myra Gilbertson and Helen Ball from the Kensington Fields Community Association -Credit:Liverpool ECHO

Many people at the protest said they had "always voted Labour" but won't be doing so again, as a result of the winter fuel allowance policy. Susan Robinson, 66, from Kensington Fields Community Association, is one such disgruntled Labour voter. She told the ECHO: " I voted Labour because I thought they would show us compassion, but I don't think they're showing us any compassion whatsoever. "We're representing our pensioners' group today. They're very unhappy about it. At the moment, I think if we could all vote again, I don't think Keir Starmer would be getting any votes from us. There's so much anger.

"I dread to think of the impact on people. As if things aren't hard enough for people at the moment. I think it's making it ten times harder for them. We have to support one another on this. I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing it for the 50, 60 pensioners that I personally know. I couldn't expect them to come out in the teeming rain to show their support. But believe me, we will be.

Helen Ball, 60, works with Susan in Kensington. She is concerned that it will be left to community organisations like theirs to help struggling pensioners this winter. She said: "The third sector are being expected to pick up the impact of this. We've got a lunch club every Tuesday and now we're having to open our doors up every day in the winter so that people have got somewhere warm to come to. And nobody pays our gas bills. We're there to pick up the mess Starmer's put us in. When I started work 45 years ago, I never thought we'd be in this position."

Ron and Claire Cooper at the protest
Ron and Claire Cooper at the protest -Credit:Liverpool ECHO

Ron Cooper, 74, from Skelmersdale said he was "disgusted" when he learned about the scrapping of the winter fuel payment. "I'm spending a lot of time looking at my electric meter, and it's just clocking up. Pensions at the moment for the UK are atrocious. It's nothing like it should be. And now they're taking money away. I'm going to recommend to any pensioner: look first before you vote Labour. Because they're not the party we knew when we were younger, or the party our parents voted for."

Today's protest was organised by the union Unite. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The savings made from scrapping the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners are small change when it comes to securing the public finances.

"Instead of depriving elderly people of warmth this winter, Labour should be introducing legislation to tax the very wealthiest in our country. They certainly won’t be worried about putting the fire on in December.

“Unite research shows that the richest 50 families in Britain are worth more than the combined assets of half the population. A one per cent tax on the richest one per cent would bring in £25 billion.

“The government should be closing the gross inequality of wealth that plagues our country, not heading down the road to Austerity Mark Two. Labour needs to make different choices.”