A rally has heard the impact of denying millions of pensioners £300 winter fuel payments – and pleas for Labour to perform an 11th hour U-turn
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Winter Fuel Payments: Protestors call on Labour to change policy
A pensioner has told how he may have to sell possessions to afford heating this winter for his disabled wife.
John Barnes, 71, says he has no choice but to put the heating on because Patricia has very bad arthritis. Last winter they received £600 – £300 each – in payments to help pay their energy.
The couple missed out on the money this year because Patricia gets a small pension that takes them over the threshold. “It means we don’t qualify for pension credit,” said Mr Barnes, a retired self-employed landscape gardener from near Rhyl. “We have totally lost out this year. “That £600 paid for the heating all the way through last winter.
“It’s frightening. You try not to think about it. It’s a time bomb for so many people. We have no choice, we’ll have to keep the heating on. It may be a case of selling possessions to afford the bill.
Mr Barnes was among hundreds who gathered outside Parliament to protest about the government’s withdrawing of winter fuel payments for millions of older people. Labour insists it was forced to do so after the Tories left it with a £22billion black hole in the public finances. Critics are still hoping for a U-turn from Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the Budget in three weeks’ time.
The rally was attended by pensioners from across the country and heard fears about the impact of denying help with winter bills – up to £300 per person – would have.
Retired NHS nurse Christine Smith, 70, from Newcastle, had this blunt message to the government: “Stop killing the elderly”.
Mrs Smith said: “They are going to increase the death toll this winter. If feels like bullying of pensioners, because we can’t fight back. Unlike workers, we aren’t able to withdraw our labour in protest. We can’t go on strike. But women our age are contributing £3.5billion to the UK economy through unpaid social care and granny duties.”
Mrs Smith was among 12 women who travelled from Newcastle for the rally. With train tickets costing £200 each, they and others spent time fund-raising to afford to make it to London, desperate to be heard.
Another pensioner at the event was Sally Heywood, 72, who came from her home in Carmarthen, in Wales. “You just look at the weather and try to get through it,” she said, when asked about the impact of losing the payment.
“But I am one of the lucky ones. I have to stand for those who couldn’t make it here today, to give them a voice.”
Mrs Heywood said she feared the wider impact on those who are already vulnerable. “Their lives have been smaller and smaller already,” she said. “They will be left living in one room in their home through the whole of the winter. They won’t want to go out because it will be so cold when they get back. It will worsen isolation and depression. People will get lost – others will forget they are there.”
Retired Tesco worker Shirley Clayton, 72, from Ipswich, said: “Every morning I wake and think, I hope it is a mild day. You’re scared stiff to put the heating on. “Why didn’t Labour go after the wealthy to raise the money it needed? It is so bizarre,” said Mrs Clayton, who missed out on pension credit – the qualifying benefit for winter fuel payments this year – because her income was £15 a week too high.
Friend Marilyn Salmon, 72, said: “They’ve gone after the little people.”
Jan Shott, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, which organised yesterday’s meeting, said the level of the winter fuel payment had not increased since 2007.
She also revealed soaring energy bills since the start of the energy crisis three years ago, combined with the scrapping the winter fuel payment, meant pensioners have seen prices jump by 131%. “Cold temperatures increase the risk of strokes, heart disease, and respiratory conditions, especially for disabled and older adults” she said. “Depending on the type of winter we have, many older people will not see the spring, becoming victims of cold related deaths.
“Labour has an estimate of 4,000 deaths. What I would say is one death is one too many.” Ms Short, who is on the basic state pension herself and is just above the threshold for pension credit, said: “You live on a fixed income. Every bill that comes through the door, that means you have to look at your budget, shift things around. You get two bills through your door with an increase, that is disaster.”
Unite general Sharon Graham, who also addressed the rally, insisted the country could afford to reinstate winter fuel payments. “We have the money,” she said. “We are the sixth richest economy in the world. There are other ways to pay for this black hole and they cannot, they must not, do so by picking the pockets of pensioners.” She urged the government to tax the super rich 1% more instead.
The rally heard anger over claims that MPs were still allowed to claim fuel bills for their second homes while pensioners lost out.
