Labour Party scraps Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners...

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Labour activists are telling people the scrapping of the winter fuel allowance is "yet to be decided".

Either they know something the rest of us don't or they're simply lying through their teeth?

I know which of the two is the more likely.

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Nowhere in the letter I received from the DWP does it mention that I (and millions of others) WON'T be getting the fuel allowance this winter, only that people on certain other benefits WILL be getting it.

If that isn't deliberately misleading I don't know what is?

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Energy price cap rises as Starmer pulls winter fuel payments

Household energy bills will jump by £21 from January in a fresh blow for millions of pensioners who face the loss of winter fuel payments.

Ofgem’s announcement on Friday means the price cap will rise from £1,717 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit to £1,738 from January 1.

There had been hopes that the price cap would be unchanged or even decline but predictions of a cold winter are instead pushing global gas prices upwards.

The change to the price cap - which sets a maximum rate per unit and standing charge that can be billed to customers for their energy use - means the average household will pay on average around an extra £1.75 a month.

The increase will add to growing pressure on Labour over its decision to cut the winter fuel allowance of £300 so that only pensioners eligible for other benefits get the handout. The change means an estimated 10 million households will lose out on the benefit.

Newly published government analysis has found that the measure could force 100,000 pensioners in England and Wales into relative fuel poverty this year. The analysis was published earlier this week just as temperatures plunged and parts of the UK experienced their first snowfall of the year.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Households will have to find more money to keep themselves warm at the worst possible time.

“To make matters worse, the new Government has cut back the levels of support available to some of the most at risk households.”

Caroline Abrahams, Director at Age UK, added: “Older people, struggling without their Winter Fuel Payment, who were praying for a reduction in energy prices to help them in the New Year, will be bitterly disappointed today.”

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said the rise in the energy price cap shows Labour’s “reckless energy policies” were making families worse off.

She said: “During the election Ed Miliband promised to cut everyone’s energy bills by £300 by 2030.

“Now, not only is this promise nowhere to be seen, but he even ordered Labour MPs to vote against it in Parliament - running away from their broken promises once again.

“Instead, Labour’s reckless energy policies and their cruel plan to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment for 10 million pensioners is leaving families worse off - as we are already starting to see.”

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More than 40,000 terminally ill pensioners lose winter fuel payment



Tens of thousands of terminally ill pensioners have lost their winter fuel payments ahead of what is likely to be their last Christmas, campaigners warn.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves sparked furious backlash after stripping the annual payment, worth up to £300, from some ten million pensioners in order to save the Government £1.4bn.

Figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request by charity Marie Curie show an estimated 44,000 retired people in critical condition will lose the allowance.

Winter fuel payments will continue to be paid to those in receipt of pension credit under Labour’s reforms. However, those who claim benefits under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will not.

Marie Curie is now calling on the Government to guarantee that any person with a terminal illness, whether they are of pension or working age, receives the allowance. It has also called for the introduction of a social tariff to ease fuel poverty.

Social tariffs are discounted energy prices offered to vulnerable consumers by energy providers, but they are not mandated by the Government.

Energy costs can double for those with a terminal illness, due to the need to constantly heat homes to provide relief from pain, washing and drying clothes, and to charge and run life-sustaining medical devices.

Sam Royston, executive director for policy and research at Marie Curie, said: “For people who claim benefits under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness, this may very well be their last winter and Christmas. We know that energy costs can increase dramatically after a terminal diagnosis, yet the decision to restrict the winter fuel payment only to people receiving means-tested benefits takes no account of this.

“The festive season is meant to be one of warmth, joy and celebration. No one should have to face their final days worrying about money or whether they can afford to heat their home or even switch on Christmas lights.”

Campaign groups and charities have warned that thousands more elderly retirees are at risk becoming ill due to Ms Reeves’s decision.

Helen van Bueren [pictured], 77, from Derbyshire, diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, is one of those who has lost her winter fuel payment and described the cold as “crippling”.

Ms van Bueren said: “It seeps into your bones and sits there. It consumes you. With each year that passes, I feel myself fading a little more. I’m just over the limit for pension credit so I won’t get my winter fuel allowance anymore and I do wonder if I will see the other side of this winter.”

Critics warned that the NHS, which experienced an acute winter crisis last year as a result of strikes and missed targets, could be overwhelmed by pensioners made ill by the cold.

Sue Hogston, head of nursing and quality at Marie Curie Bradford Hospice, said: “National research shows that living in a cold environment enhances your chance of respiratory illness and living in damp does the same. Living in a cold house impacts your cardio vascular system, so we know the cold impacts hospital admissions.

“It also impacts people’s mental health and that becomes a dignity issue. If you are worried about heating your home and you have a terminal illness that really impacts your wellbeing and your mental health. People with terminal illness deserve dignity.”

Ms Hogston added that anyone with concerns can use the Marie Curie online benefits calculator to see if they are entitled to more help or speak to one of their energy support officers one-on-one.

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Fuel Minister Liz Kendall, who axed £300 payment to pensioners, lives in £4million Notting Hill home with her banker partner - and their heating bill is paid by YOU



The Cabinet Minister who axed pensioners' winter fuel payments has her own £350-a-month energy bills paid by the taxpayer – while she lives in a £4 million London mansion.

Liz Kendall has been branded a hypocrite for removing the payment for ten million pensioners while bills at her second home are being met from the public purse.

The Work and Pensions Secretary's main base is a four-bedroom property in Notting Hill, West London, which she shares with her partner, an Old Etonian investment banker. But she is allowed to claim costs for the second property she rents in her Leicester West constituency.

The most recent documents held by the Commons show she claimed a total of £3,810 in energy costs between April 2023 and July this year, with the largest monthly bills totalling £352.

Ms Kendall's decision to axe the annual winter fuel payment of between £100 and £300 for all but the poorest pensioners will force 100,000 people into poverty by 2027 according to her own department's forecasts.

Last night, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told The Mail on Sunday: 'The hypocrisy of the Labour Government knows no bounds. I will not be claiming a penny in expenses for my heating.'

And Tory MP David Simmonds said: 'This revelation will be a kick in the teeth for the 10 million pensioners facing choosing between heating and eating this Christmas because of Labour and Liz Kendall's political choice to cut the winter fuel payment.

'While Liz Kendall is living a life of luxury the country is facing real life consequences of Labour's ill-thought-out decisions. In four short months this Labour Government have made it clear they do not have the British people's best interests at heart.'

And Dennis Reed, director of campaign group Silver Voices said: 'Many people will be furious – rightfully furious. It's the hypocrisy of it all.'

[A] former neighbour – and pensioner – in Leicestershire said: 'This is outrageous.'

The retired accountant, 77, who gave his name only as Wiliam, said: 'She has blighted the lives of so many people across the country with her scandalous winter fuel policy.

'Now we learn the people she is robbing are helping pay her bills at her constituency home. It is one rule for the powers-that-be and another one for us.'

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The electorate doesn't like being lied to and they despise hypocrisy. - I doubt I'll see another Labour government in my lifetime!

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They'll stop housing benefit and council tax benefit for pensioners next, the signs are already there.

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Tens of thousands of pensioners might not get Winter Fuel Payment by Christmas



Tens of thousands of pensioners are unlikely to receive their Winter Fuel Payments before the end of the year as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been grappling with a growing backlog of new claims for Pension Credit, analysis by BBC Verify suggests.

There has been a surge in applications for Pension Credit since Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in July that Winter Fuel Payments for this year would be mainly limited to those receiving Pension Credit.

There was a backlog of 90,000 unprocessed claims as of mid-November with around 9,000 being processed each week, according to the latest official figures, external.

With a likely similar amount of new applications each week since then, there is a risk that there will still be a backlog of tens of thousands by the end of the year.

The DWP said it had deployed 500 additional staff to speed up processing.

The DWP has released data showing, external there were around 150,000 new applications for Pension Credit in the UK between 29 July and 17 November.

However, the Pensions Minister, Emma Reynolds, told Parliament on 4 December, external that the total number of unprocessed Pension Credit applications in the end of week commencing 18th November was 91,075.

Not all applications, once processed, are successful and get awarded Pension Credit - around 45% of applications processed since 29 July have been approved.

BBC Verify heard from Simon Livingston in Brighton, who told us he had applied for Pension Credit for his mother in March and was still waiting for a decision.

And Jackie Newberry in Hook in Hampshire applied for Pension Credit for her 95-year-old mother Ena in February and was told she would get a decision by mid-March.

After chasing several times she was finally told her claim had been approved in early December.

DWP data shows, external that in the week of 18 November, the average processing time for a Pension Credit application was 65 working days, or 13 weeks, up from 9 weeks at the end of July, external.

That average processing time, unless it has picked up, would mean eligible people who submitted an application in November or December would likely not receive their £200 to £300 Winter Fuel Payment - and backdated Pension Credit payment - until February or March 2025.

The former pensions minister, Steve Webb, who is now a partner at pension consultants LCP said: "Although they will eventually receive arrears once Pension Credit comes into payment, including any Winter Fuel Payment to which they would have been entitled, most who were on the waiting list by mid November are likely to have to manage through Christmas and the New Year on a very modest income until their claim is processed".