Labour cuts to winter fuel payments ‘worse than ditching triple lock’

Cutting winter fuel payments is a worse offence for Labour than abandoning the triple lock, a former pensions minister of the Conservative party has noted. 
 
This madam commented on Baroness Altmann, call for the scrapping of payments for 10 million pensioners led by Rachel Reeves was the wrong political decision as it would lead to real hardship. 
 
Last month Labour stated that, from December next year, it will cease to pay winter fuel payment to all pensioners, and give the allowance only to pensioners who currently receive means-tested benefits. 
 
Former pensions minister, now a member of the House of Lords, Baroness Ros Altman stated that denying 13 million pensioners monthly payment was far worse than abolishing the triple lock. 
 
Again, in its manifesto, Labour promised to maintain the triple lock policy, which is the process by which state pensions go up every year linked to the highest of the inflation rate, average earnings and 2. 5 per cent. 
 
But Baroness Altman told the Lords, now Jan date of changes has been set, the Government freezing and axing winter fuel payments has ‘made a mockery of that’. She also stated that in particular, for the oldest pensioners the Government’s tax raid is equivalent to a 3. The money has been announced to be cut by 3 per cent on the people’s pensions. At the same time, the ratio of the inhabitants under the age of 80 shall increase by 2. Of these, average non-technical staff claimed to have suffered a drop of 2 percent in the amount of money they are being paid. 
 
Baroness Altman added: It also stated: “This is the wrong political option – pensioners shouldn’t be used to balance the fiscal deficit. ” This misconception is that pensioners are all rich but most of them barely manage to make ends meet and must budget on a lot less than the majority of the young people. 
 
“I do hope the Government will realize that this is wrong, it will definitely plunge pensioners into hardship, and this aspect must be reversed forthwith; that this £1. 4 billion this year should not be extracted from pensioners because the earmarked savings are bankrupting the country owing to the fiscal mismanagement is a political decision and, in this author’s view, perverse. 
 
Previously, all 11. Every winter, four million pensioners were given an additional £200 so that they could afford heating their homes while senior citizens and £300 to them unconditionally. 
 
According to latest proposals from Labour which is a departure from prior manifestos nearly 10 million pensioners will be losers for the first time this winter. 
 
The sickening attitude comes from Ms Reeves who said it is okay and proper to deny millions of pensioners the payment. Only 1. Thus, it is expected that the payments will be forwarded to 5 million households. 
 
The Chancellor was asked at the press conference to which extent is she picking on pensioners and she replied that in the circumstances that she was facing, these are the correct and just decisions to make. 
 
The alterations to winter fuel payments will set from November, and Baroness Altman called on the Government to suspend the modifications giving pensioners a prospect to send their bills as planned. 
 
She said, “removing that £300 from the over-80s, without any explanation, gives an impression that the Government of this nation regards pensioners as a cash cow to be milked and perhaps does not understand that for some, £300 is not pocket money but a lot of money for those barely making ends meet. ” 
 
The winter fuel allowance itself was also be launched by Labour in 1997 when Gordon Brown was the UK chancellor. 
 
Ms Reeves has said that she was put in a position where she had to make tough choices because the pressures affecting day-to-day Whitehall budgets amounted to £21. 9 billion greater than once believed reducing obstacles to its monetary measure therefore , strengthening it via the process. 

The introduction of the policy to remove the winter fuel payment is among the £5 that Chancellor has planned to save. 5 billion this year, following when she claimed that the previous Tory government had made “unfunded commitment after unfunded commitment”. 
 
Ms Reeves also attributed it to an increases in a costs of processing asylum claims and immigration, cost of National Health Service, Ukraine aid and to maintain roads and railways.