The elimination of winter fuel payments for nearly 10 million seniors is one of the most despicable acts I have witnessed by any government – blue or red – since I began reporting on personal finance issues 35 years ago.
My blood boils with rage every time I think about it, even in the middle of the night.
Last Tuesday, after the Prime Minister defended the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decision to cut taxes – and after I visited Downing Street to deliver a letter urging Labour to do a U-turn – I woke up in a cold sweat. I had dreamed that Sir Keir Starmer had locked me in the Tower of London for the ferocity of my criticism.
Jeff Prestridge visits Downing Street to deliver a letter urging Labour to do a U-turn on winter fuel payments
Chancellor Rachel Reeves scraps winter fuel payments for nearly 10 million seniors
It took me forever (and a couple of Nytol sleeping pills) to fall back asleep. Maybe it was a premonition. One reader had already joked that The Tower was where I was headed.
A month after Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ announcement, I still haven’t quite gotten my head around it.
However you look at it, analyse it and dissect it, the decision to withdraw the payment (which can be as much as £300 a year) from all pensioners except those receiving pension credit is a mistake, a terrible mistake.
For a start, it makes no financial sense in terms of savings (£1.4bn a year). In terms of public spending (around £1.226bn a year, give or take a billion), £1.4bn is a pittance.
And given the recent rush among eligible retirees to sign up for pension credit, I’m sure £1.4bn won’t be saved.
Why Chancellor of the Exchequer? Is it because most pensioners vote Conservative?
Is it because your older champagne-drinking friends joke about giving their grandkids the paycheck?
If so, get out of your bubble and talk to those older retirees who are suffering, fearful of the coming winter and rising (and unaffordable) energy bills.
It also makes no political sense. As campaigners have argued in recent weeks, removing the universal entitlement to the payment will hit some of the poorest retirees hardest: those who are entitled to the pension credit but are unable or unwilling to claim it, and the two million elderly whose incomes are just above the qualifying threshold.
This begs the question: what is Labour standing for if it does not protect the most vulnerable in society? Its attack on pensioners is misguided and wrong, and many Labour MPs and Lords and left-wing commentators know this too.
As Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves with Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer in 2021
The letter delivered to Rachel Reeves last week, backed up by redacted correspondence from readers affected by the loss of the winter fuel payment, called for the changes to be suspended. Too many pensioners simply do not have enough time to adjust their budgets and make up for the loss of this winter’s £200 or £300 payment.
We also urge the Chancellor to look at other ways of cutting the payment, for example by taxing it as if it were part of the state pension. We have not yet received a response from Ms Reeves, but we will publish her response when (and if) we receive it.
I fear she is not prepared to make a U-turn and may confirm this obstinate stance when the House of Commons reopens this week.
I hope he doesn’t bury his head in the sand. The tide is against him and he should accept that he has made a terrible blunder with the winter fuel payment.
A change of course will not change the health of the country’s public finances in the slightest.
Jeff Prestridge with a petition on winter fuel payments to be presented to the Chancellor
As we all know, in the coming months we have a lot of taxes that will increase revenues. Of course, make my financial life a little more complicated, but don’t take money out of the pockets of pensioners who are in trouble.
Encouraged by the kindness of Mail on Sunday readers
Two final comments on winter fuel payments. Firstly, I would like to thank all of you who have contacted me by email or letter to express your views on the subject.
I have tried to respond to everyone. If I have forgotten anyone, I apologize.
Secondly, I’d like to make a special mention of a handful of readers who offered to help a couple of pensioners that my colleague Toby Walne and I wrote about in Money Mail (our wonderful sister section on money that appears in the Daily Mail every Wednesday).
The two pensioners in question (Brian Ashton and David Tarrant) feared that the loss of their winter fuel payment would seriously impact on their respective ability to feed their pet (a dog on a vet-recommended diet due to acute weight problems) and to purchase an electric hoist to lift their wife in and out of the car for day trips from their care home.
Mary Connelly, Celia Walser, Julia Hillchurch and Joan Breeze were among those who offered to pay for the dog food or contribute to the purchase of the hoist. Kindness personified, but I expected nothing less from you, dear readers.
Use your library so the city can’t get rid of it
Like banks, libraries are a vital part of the social fabric of a community. Sadly, like high street bank branches, they are also closing (800 since 2010) and many are reducing their opening hours. More closures are likely in the coming months unless Labour relieves some of the financial pressure on many councils on the brink of bankruptcy or councils start prioritising essential services rather than creating more nebulous jobs (which come with gold-plated pensions).
Our love for libraries has been demonstrated in recent weeks following the damage caused to the Spellow Library Hub in Walton, Liverpool by rioters. Donations of over £250,000 have been received from all corners of the UK, as well as from local residents, to replace damaged library books and repair the building.
The library in my home town of Wokingham in Berkshire is part of a thriving community centre (the Carnival Hub) which includes a gym and swimming pool. It also hosts occasional live music events – in late 2022, I saw a couple of pretty good tribute bands there (Ultimate Elton & The Rocket Band and The Police Academy). I even danced like a dad to their cover of Roxanne.
The library in Jeff’s home town of Wokingham in Berkshire is part of a thriving community centre (the Carnival Hub).
It also has rooms where local groups, such as Wokingham Writers, can meet occasionally. In fact, earlier last month I was thrilled to be invited to the launch of a book by local author Stephen Ross, a rather risqué account called The Candlemaker’s Affair. Stephen is an extraordinary person who managed to finish the book despite being diagnosed with motor neurone disease halfway through writing it.
I even took the opportunity to check out two PJ Tracy books (part of the Monkeewrench series) from the library and read them without getting fined for returning them late.
Just like your local bank, use your library and make it impossible for the council to get rid of it. Community matters, something the Labour Party says it cares about too. Well, let’s wait and see what happens.
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