Triple Lock increase 'won’t save' state pensioners from Winter Fuel Payment axe
The new Labour Party government has been warned that the Triple Lock increase - predicted to be £460 - will not "save" state pensioners after they lost the £300 Winter Fuel Payment. MPs voted to reject the Conservative Party motion on Tuesday by a majority of 120.
About a dozen Labour MPs are thought to have deliberately abstained and one, Jon Trickett, voting against. Writing into the Guardian newspaper, a pensioner fumed: "By stating that the winter fuel allowance will still be paid to the poorest pensioners in receipt of benefits, Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer are being disingenuous.
"I have a low pension income and rent a flat. My pension is topped up, not by pension credit (being just a few pounds over the eligibility limit), but by housing and council tax benefit. Despite being topped up to a similar amount to that of our neighbours on pension credit, we are not eligible for any extra help with energy bills – not even the £150 that those on pension credit receive from energy companies each year."
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They went on, writing in an open letter: "My home is an almshouse, is more than 100 years old and is damp and poorly insulated. It is very hard to heat and has an expensive and inefficient electric heating system – there is no gas available here."
"Starmer says pensioners are protected by the triple lock. But any increase in our pension will merely be deducted from our housing benefit and council tax support, so it will make no meaningful difference to our situation," they added. Trickett was joined by five of the seven Labour MPs who were suspended after voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap: Ian Byrne, Apsana Begum, Zarah Sultana, Richard Burgon and John McDonnell.
A Conservative motion to strike down the move was defeated by 348 votes to 228.