Weston MP says ‘misinformation spread about winter fuel payments’

MP Dan Aldridge shared the following message after yesterday’s vote on the Winter Fuel Allowance: “No Labour MP wants to cut winter fuel payments, but our commitment to pensioners is steadfast.

“Today’s vote on winter fuel payments will be tough, but making and explaining hard choices is what Labour was elected to do.

“I and all other Labour MPs were elected on a manifesto pledge to ‘Deliver economic stability with tough spending rules, so we can grow our economy and keep taxes, inflation and mortgages as low as possible’ – This was literally the First Step in our manifesto, and we will deliver it.

“It should also come as no surprise that not one of us is happy to do this, the decision to means test the winter fuel payment goes so very much against the grain of why we came into public service.

“That I and hundreds of my colleagues will make this decision is testament to just how tough governing in the wake of years of Tory economic chaos will be, not one of us is taking this lightly – The economic inheritance of this government is unimaginably worse than that inherited by Labour in 1997 and leaves us with no good choices.

“Tory crocodile tears over means testing the Winter Fuel Allowance is galling when you consider the fact that it was Labour in government which delivered for pensioners – “According to the independent think tank the IFS, there was an £11bn annual increase in benefits for pensioners between 1997 and 2010, and pensioner poverty plunged.

“In 2022, Age UK estimated that 2.1 million (18 per cent) of pensioners in the UK live in poverty, an increase from 1.6 million (14 per cent) living in poverty 2013-2014 and the last parliament was the first on record to see living standards lower than when they came to office.

“It is a shameful situation, for which the public are still to receive any form of contrition.

“To add to the chaos of their positioning, we’ve now learnt that the front-runner to be Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has previously also called for means testing winter fuel payments.

“This duplicity to voters is exactly what Rachel Reeves is getting away from.

“She often described Conservative economic policy as a cheap trick – saying one thing while taking from people’s pockets and hoping they don’t notice.

(Image: MP Dan Aldridge)

“We are not shying away from this difficult decision but are being honest about the inheritance we face and how difficult it will be to balance the books, filling in the £22bn hole, while the economy is still in the doldrums.

“A lot of misinformation has been spread about winter fuel payments, and the support available to pensioners – often by people with a political agenda.

“Memes on Facebook and rants on radio shows have not given the whole truth to pensioners.

“So, let’s be clear about what is changing and the context for it.

“First, pensioners in receipt of pension credit – another legacy of the last Labour government – will still receive winter fuel payments in full.

“Greater take-up of pension credit is a key to ensure we can target this money at those who are in most need.

“Second, energy bills are lower this year than they were last year. The energy price cap will be £117 lower at the end of 2024 than it was in 2023.

“Rather than being honest about this, some are instead pointing at the planned rise on 1 October, missing that the cap is currently £266 lower than it was last Autumn.

“Wilfully ignoring this price fall is scaremongering and isn’t helping people worried about their bills.

“Third, the triple lock increased the new state pension by £900 in April, a rise of 8.5 per cent (in line with earnings, which had a bumper year).

“If pensions had risen in-line with prices (as working-age benefits did) they would have grown by closer to £700.

“In addition, for those who are struggling, Labour has also extended the household support fund for six months, a vital lifeline administered by local councils.

“The idea Labour would ever allow pensioners to choose between heating and eating is not only a lie it’s an obscene one at that.

“Further still, Labour is going to raise pensioners’ incomes in the year ahead.

“We are fully committed to the pension triple lock. That means the new state pension will increase well above inflation next year, by more than £400 a year in cash terms.

“We’ll keep uprating pensions throughout this parliament, and as we turn the economy around, we’ll continue to invest in the services that people of all ages rely on, from the NHS to strong community policing.

“No one is pretending that the vote today will be easy. But this is what government in hard times looks like.

“Making – and explaining – tough choices when constraints are tight, rather than running away from them and leaving the country in a mess.”