Black hole

Source: X (formerly Twitter)

The Government's decision to cut the winter fuel allowance for all but the country’s poorest pensioners looks particularly harsh when set against revelations about gifts to the prime minister and Cabinet members.

From BBC News: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality received since becoming prime minister, following a backlash over donations. A Labour peer donated more than £32,000 worth of clothing and spectacles to Sir Keir when he was leader of the opposition, which he has not paid back.

Addressing the Labour Party Conference Liz Kendall MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said, "Conference, focusing Winter Fuel Payments on the poorest pensioners wasn’t a decision we wanted or expected to make. But when we promised we could be trusted with taxpayers’ money, we meant it. And when we’re faced with a £22 billion black hole which the Tories left this year – we had to act."

The absurdity of the Government's position can be observed from this clash between Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. On the one hand the Government claims to be desperate to save money by penalising the elderly while on the other they claim to be doing all they can to pay out money to thousands of pensioners who are eligible for pension credit but have not claimed because of their inability to do so through personal circumstances such as dementia or the complexity of doing so.

The £22 billion black hole has been disputed by the Tories but even if true, the government with an economy of £2.27 trillion does not need to penalise vulnerable pensioners. There is money available.

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, is to spend £22 billion on a Carbon capture and storage project when, according to Recharge, "Capturing CO2 emissions using direct-air-capture (DAC) technology requires almost as much energy as that contained in the fossil fuels that produced the carbon dioxide in the first place, according to new analysis."

The United Kingdom does not exist in a bubble. Other countries produce much more CO2 which is released into the atmosphere.

Better to plant more oxygen producing trees to capture CO2 for a fraction of the cost than to put pensioners at risk.

Postscripts 

[10.10.2024] From Age UK: 

Yesterday, Age UK’s own Equality Impact Assessment was released. It presents the true harm of the Winter Fuel Payment cut. 82% of pensioners in poverty or just above the poverty line will lose up to £300 in energy support this winter.

The assessment looks at age, sex, disability, living arrangements and region – it’s the most important moment for the campaign so far. It shows that the vast majority of older people on low incomes won’t get the Winter Fuel Payment, so the Government must change course.

Will you help by sharing these findings with your MP?

  

 Yes, I'll email my MP    

[11.10.2024] 
1, The Prime Minister describing the plight of pensioners when in Opposition.
2. Financial Times report: "UK Treasury refuses to disclose key details of £22bn fiscal ‘black hole’. 

The government has also refused to publish an assessment of the impact of means-testing winter fuel payments on pensioners.