A widowed pensioner ?a? slammed Labour’? ‘cruel’ plan t? axe winter fuel payments, s?ying she al?eady ??n’t afford t? use ?er oven ?nd sets her thermostat t? just fiv? degrees ?t night.
MPs will vote t?is afternoon on the Government’s controversial cut, which critics ?ave warned will force millions of ?lder people t? turn do?n t?eir heating this winter.
Sir Keir Starmer ?s expected t? ?s? his hu?? Commons majority to force through the measure, despite protests b? dozens ?f Labour MPs ?h? fear a huge electoral backlash.
Pensioners ?ho ?lready fret ab?ut the cost of living slammed th? plans as ‘ridiculous’, with one ?aying: ‘I fear I w?ll freeze ?f cold, and no one ?ill be h?re.’
Widower Elaine Yates from Irchester, Northants, sets ?er thermostat t? 13 degrees ?n th? day and turns ?t do?n to ju?t five degrees at night.
??e can’t afford t? us? her oven, ?sing he? microwave ?nstead. ?h? t?ld Good Morning Britain: ‘[Pensioners] ?r? not going to ?e eating as they shoul? – I ?on’t. ? don’t cook meals.
‘So many pensioners ??e lonely and isolated – th?t’s t?e biggest killer – ?nd on to? of that th?y’r? g?ing Fast shipping A-PVP crystal to Europe/USA with anonymous payment be freezing.’
Pictured ?re Elaine Yates ?nd her late husband Michael. Elaine ?an’t afford t? us? h?r oven
Widower Elaine Yates f?om Irchester, Northants, sets ?e? thermostat t? 13 degrees ?n the day and turns it down to just five degrees ?t night
Sir Keir Starmer ?s expected to use hi? huge Commons majority to f?rce thro?gh the measure, desp?t? protests by dozens ?f Labour MPs who fear ? huge electoral backlash
?he Mail revealed t?at resear?h commissioned ?y Labour in 2017 warned th?t m?ans-testing t?? benefit, whic? i? worth u? to £300, ?ould lead t? ?lmost 4,000 extra deaths ?ach winter as pensioners struggled t? kee? t?e heat on.
The proposed c?anges me?n more than 10 mil?ion pensioners will no longer receive the money.
?ead Mo?e
Cabinet minister squirms ?s ?e refuses to guarantee pensioners ?on’t ?ie ?ue to winter fuel cut
? new assessment by t?e Resolution Foundation t?ink-tank yest?rday warned t?at 1.3 mi?lion ?f t?e poorest pensioners would be driven deeper into poverty ?y the mov?.
Fo?mer Labour frontbencher Richard Burgon ?aid the plan ‘will result in t?e death of pensioners ?ho won’t be ?ble to turn the heating on’.
Elaine’s husband, form?r soldier, Michael, served 12 ?ears with th? Royal Pioneer Corps, died ?fter suffering brain haemorrhages ?n 2004, l?ter being diagnosed w?th dementia and cancer.
Th? grandmother-?f-fo?r – ?ho is nearing 80 – explained: ‘?? husband died ?nd left ? pension so I get ? small pension, ?ut that’? now taxed so t??t is ?ess than w?at it was last ?ear. ?t’s cruel, t?ey’re not going to ?elp anyb?dy by ?oing ?h?t they’r? doing.
‘I ?ave m? thermostat on 13 degrees ?nd I leave ?t on ?o my bungalow k?eps warm, and ? turn ?t down to five degrees at night. ?o many pensioners ?re lonely and isolated – t?at’s the biggest killer – and on top ?f that they’re going to be freezing.
The Chancellor said t?e ‘blame lies ?ith the Conservative Party’ for leaving b?hind a ‘black hole’ in th? public finances
‘?hey’re not go?ng to b? eating as the? should – I d?n’t. I ?on’t cook meals. ? turn ?verything off. ?’ve cooked five meals ?ince Christmas. I’ve g?t an airfryer and a microwave ?ut the oven ?s t?o expensive, unl?ss I’m doing something really special.’
S?e went th?ough th? application process ?nd it took six we?ks.
While the former factory worker ?as initially approved, sh? then told she was over t?e limit ?y £20 a ?eek later.
Pensioner Rob Trewhella, 68, ?? ‘just a couple ?f pounds ove? the threshold’ and ?aid ?e will struggle throu?h the winter but w?ll refuse t? switch on his heating.
?ead ?ore
Unions join condemnation ?f winter fuel payments axe ?s Keir Starmer faces revolt from 50 Labour MPs
?e t?ld GMB: ‘?ave to work to boost m? income. I’m ?n private rent. I can’t afford t? retire.’
‘I c?n’t continue lik? t?is. I w?uld ?ay to the Chancellor ‘ this ?s the biggest mistake of ?ou? career. You robbing people ?annot replenish t?e savings t?at t?ey make’.
‘I w?n’t turn ?n my heating a?l winter.
‘Luckily, ?oming from Penzance ?n Cornwall, we ?on’t ?et the snow and frost that you guys get. I can put an extra layer ?n, but I ?ill not put my heating on.’
In Southampton, Hampshire, 72-ye?r-old David Moss said he now regrets retiring w?en ?e was 68.
??? fo?mer pub landlord ?aid he wishes ?e ?ept w?rking beca?se thi? winter is ?oing for b? ‘difficult’ f?r him.
He t?ld th? Daily Echo: ‘Th?re w?s no warning ?bout the winter fuel payment ?nd it ?? going to be difficult f?r me this winter.
If y?u loved this article and ?ou simply would like to acquire m?re info pertaining to Order A-PVP crystal online anonymously with Bitcoin payment generously visit our ?wn website. ‘So many ?f m? friends and I are just over the limit t? claim pension credit, ?nd I can’t claim it because I have a sma?l pension of £85 a m?nth.
‘?t is ridiculous that the government is taking mor? money awa? from pensioners.
‘? do not know what I am ?oing to do. When you live on your own, news li?e th?s ?s more c?ncerning as ? fear I w?ll freeze of cold, and no one w?ll be here. Yes, ther? are s? cal?e? ‘millionaire pensioners’ b?t most of us a?? not.’
Bob Barber from Corsham, Wiltshire, tol? t?e BBC ??s tota? income ‘i? less than some?ne wh? i? wo?king fu?l time on m?nimum wage’.
You? browser d?es not support iframes.
MPs ?ill vote t??? afternoon ?n the Government’? controversial cut, ?hich critics hav? warned will force millions ?f ?lder people to turn ?own t?eir heating this winter (stock im?ge)
He s?i? ?e did not expect a Labour government t? ‘attack the poorest ?n society’.
Libby Romain – ?lso from Wiltshire – t?ld t?e BBC: ‘I’?e paid ?nto everything – I’ve worked full time all my working life. I’m b?ing penalised for h?ving worked and got my private pension wh?ch ?laces me t?at much ?ver th? threshold.’
She ?a? a rare form of motor neurone disease, ?hich m?kes her more at risk from falls.
?nd ?f sh? ?ets to? cold, t?e risk of falling rises and it effects ?ow s?e holds t?ings.
Addressing ? meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Rachel Reeves ?aid ?he was not ‘immune’ to arguments a?ainst the plan, ?ut she had ‘considered t?ose wh?n the decision was ma?e’.
The Chancellor s?id the ‘blame lies wit? the Conservative Party’ f?r leaving behind a ‘black hole’ in the public finances.
Ms Reeves ?aid th? state pension had risen by £900 t?is year as a result ?f the triple lock, meaning t?at ‘pensioners ?ave £900 m?re in their pockets th?n they did ? year ago’ – meaning the? could afford th? cut to winter fuel.
?he ?lso insisted ministers ?ere seri?us ab?ut encouraging ?n estimated 800,000 of th? poorest pensioners to claim Pension Credit, ?hich w?ll entitle them to ?eep th? winter fuel payment.
Calling on Sir Keir to rethink t?e cut, Liberal Democrat leader Sir ?d Davey said th? poll ?howed that the Government is forcing pensioners t? make th? ‘heartbreaking choice bet???n heating and eating this winter’
Labour dissenters ?reviously warned th?t the plan to axe winter fuel payments ?ould save ?ittle money once th? cost of treating pensioners hit by t?e cold had b?en factored ?n (file photo)
?ew figures ?uggest applications ?ave mo?e t?an doubled since M? Reeves anno?nced he? plans in Ju?y, but ??e sti?l running at only ?round 9,000 ? week.
In the short term, ? poll ha? revealed m?re than half of pensioners ?ill heat t?eir homes less du? to the winter fuel payment cut.
S?me 55 per cent said the m?ve to strip ten milli?n voters of the subsidy will cause th?m to h?ve a colder winter this y?ar.
The Savanta survey, commissioned ?y the Liberal Democrats, ?howed that four in ten elderly people are planning to cut ?ack on essentials. And 19 per cent – almost one in five – will eat less t?is winter to save money.
Th?ee-quarters ?f respondents said t?ey wo?ld be impacted ?y t?e planned ?hanges to t?? winter fuel allowance, while just a fifth think they w?ll a?oid any negative effects.
Calling ?n Sir Keir to rethink t?e cut, Liberal Democrat leader Sir ?d Davey ?aid the poll ?howed that the Government ?s forcing pensioners t? ma?e the ‘heartbreaking choice ?etween heating ?nd eating this winter’.
Economists ?ave warned that the savings f?om the winter fuel cut ?ould be wiped ?ut ?f all older people entitled t? Pension Credit ?tarted claiming ?t.
D?wning Street declined to ?ay ?hether t?ose ?h? refuse to b?ck the Government ?ill lose t?e Labour whip.
Some 17 have signed a Commons motion calling for ? rethink, wh?le dozens more are privately opposed. ?o 10 said there ?ad been no dissent at Cabinet over t?e plans.
Good Morning BritainLabourKeir Starmer