UK households who are 'barely scraping by' will have £300 taken by Labour
The new Labour Party government faces growing restlessness and scrutiny over axing the £300 Winter Fuel Payment. There are fresh calls to u-turn over the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) limiting the Winter Fuel Allowance to Pension Credit claimants.
An Age UK petition demanding a U-turn topped 500,000 signatures. Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: “Cutting the Winter Fuel Payment with virtually no notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy decision.
“The Government should think again.” Ms Abrahams added: “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 already spells deep anxiety about how they will afford to keep their home warm, as well as putting food on the table.
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“In our experience, 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. If fit enough they may ride public transport or go to the local library to feel their heat - but of course, in the end they will still return to a cold home.
"In short, life offers them very little to look forward to.” Labour MP Rachel Maskell said: "The mitigation put in by the Government is insufficient. We have to go back to why Gordon Brown introduced this. He was emphatic that he didn’t want people to go cold over winter. We absolutely should uphold those values."
Clive Lewis, a candidate for Labour leader in the party’s 2020 election, said: “Cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance is really going to put a lot of the pensioners into real hardship and possibly worse. The universal nature of this benefit is its strength. There is no ‘cliff-edge’.”