Chancellor Rachel Reeves faced questions from MPs in Parliament today, which returned from its month-long summer recess on Monday.
In July Reeves said that the previous Conservative government had left a £22 billion black hole in public finance, necessitating a removal of winter fuel allowance for Britain’s pensioners.
This payment helps pensioners with their heating costs during the winter, given that elderly people are more vulnerable to illness and death in homes not heated sufficiently.
Critics say the Chancellor did not have to remove this payment, with Tory MP Harriet Baldwin today calling it a “chilling political choice”. Baldwin said to the Commons: “Within the first few days of coming to office, the Chancellor managed to spend over £22 billion, very quickly, by setting up great British Energy, by setting up a national wealth fund and by giving in to the pay demands of her party’s union paymasters”.
The government has made the winter fuel allowance means-tested, meaning that only pensioners who receive pension credit are now eligible. Rachel Reeves told Parliament today that pensioners should still be able to afford to heat their homes this winter, arguing that the state pension has increased and energy bills have decreased. She also said that the Department for Work and Pensions would change how pension credit is handed out, to ensure that the 800,000 people who qualify but do not claim it still receive their winter fuel payments.
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott, referenced a claim Reeves made 10 years ago that winter fuel payments should be cut for “the richest pensioners”, and asked if she thinks that “a pensioner on £13,000 a year is rich?”. Reeves didn’t directly address the question, and instead suggested that the Conservatives should give “an apology for the mess that they have left this country in”.
Much of the criticism directed at Reeves came from Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs, but Labour MP Peter Swallow also questioned removal of winter fuel payment. Swallow said: “my constituency is the snowiest in England and we have many pensioners in receipt of the basic state pension who are, nonetheless, in fuel poverty. They are not entitled to pension credit. They live in cold, stone-built houses. What assurance can the Chancellor give to those pensioners that this Government will help to warm their homes and ensure they do not struggle to heat their homes this winter?”
Labour MP Rachael Maskell also had concerns, warning that in her constituency of York Central, rents had risen by 11.9%, exceeding the state pension increase. She went on to say: “With the loss of the cost-of-living payments and winter fuel payments, an increase in the energy price cap and cost of living, pensioners are frightened about how they’re going to keep warm this winter – as am I.”
Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have strongly opposed the Chancellor’s decision, with Lib Dem leader Ed Davey calling it “the first big mistake this government has made” and all 6 Tory leadership candidates uniting in opposition to the measure.
It appeared initially that the cuts to winter fuel allowance wouldn’t be put to a Parliamentary vote, but Keir Starmer appears to have bowed to pressure from both opposition and Labour backbenchers. Reports are suggesting that a vote could be held next week on the cut to winter fuel allowance, before the Autumn Budget statement on 30th October, with the Conservatives leading the opposition motion. Labour’s 167- seat-majority means that the opposition are unlikely to succeed, but the vote could certainly see a large rebellion among Labour backbenchers.
