Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “disrespecting the older generations” by not responding to a petition on winter fuel payment cuts.
Silver Voices and the Daily Express handed in a petition signed by almost 150,000 people to 10 Downing Street two weeks ago calling for pensioners to be protected in the Autumn Budget.
But the campaign group’s director Dennis Reed criticised the Prime Minister for not acknowledging the petition or accompanying letter.
He said: “As the Prime Minister and Cabinet stand in silence on Remembrance Day, military veterans who have lost their winter fuel payment can be forgiven for thinking that those who survived are having their lives put at risk by the cruel cuts of this Government.
“The poppy stands for respect and yet the Prime Minister is disrespecting the older generations by failing to respond to our massive petition, delivered with the Express.
“If he wants to regain the trust of older people he must introduce extra mitigating measures on energy support before the depths of winter hit us.
“We are particularly concerned about the three million pensioners just above the pension credit limit, who receive no benefits, and will include many retired service men and women, and who appear to have been cut loose to sink or swim by this Government.”
Dennis Reed hands in the petition to 10 Downing Street (Image: © Nigel Howard / NIGEL HOWARD MEDIA)
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The Labour Government has faced an intense backlash for restricting the previously universal winter fuel allowance of up to £300 to only those on pension credit.
The petition by Silver Voices urged for the payments to be restored to all pensioners who are not on the higher rate of income tax.
It also demanded a guarantee that other OAP benefits, such as free bus passes and prescriptions, would remain in place for the rest of this Parliament.
And it called for measures to ensure elderly people whose only income is the basic state pension do not get dragged into paying income tax in the future.
Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride and Reform leader Nigel Farage attended the petition hand-in to show their support for the Daily Express’s crusade for the cuts to be reversed.
Mr Stride said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that there has been no response yet to this hugely important petition.
“As temperatures are dropping many elderly and vulnerable people up and down our country are now having to face that dreadful choice between heating and eating.
“The Government should act and reverse this appalling policy choice.”
Clacton MP Mr Farage added: “To not even respond to Dennis Reed of Silver Voices shows that Keir Starmer is prepared to treat our pensioners with contempt.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves went ahead with limiting winter fuel payments at last month’s Budget despite pleas for a U-turn.
She had faced pressure from opposition parties, charities and unions to reverse the measure after it was announced in July and rammed through the Commons in September.
The Labour Government blamed the controversial decision on a £22 billion black hole in the public finances left by the Tories, which they have denied.
The change, which came into force as energy bills went up last month, will see around 10 million older people miss out on the payments and is expected to save £1.5 billion a year.
Campaigners have raised fears about elderly people who are just above the threshold for pension credit being forced to choose between heating and eating as temperatures plunge in the coming months.
There are also hundreds of thousands of OAPs who will lose out because they are eligible for pension credit but do not claim it despite a jump in applications.
The Government was heavily criticised for not carrying out a full impact assessment into the policy.
Figures quietly released in September by the Department for Work and Pensions showed around 71% of those with a disability and 83% of those aged 80 or over would no longer get the payments.
Meanwhile, the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), which scrutinises the Government’s welfare policies, published a damning letter raising a series of concerns.
The committee suggested it was not convinced by assurances that pension credit take-up would prevent a number of pensioners from falling into poverty.
The Daily Express previously revealed estimates by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition that the change will cost the NHS an additional £169 million a year.
And recent polling for Independent Age found 29% of OAPs due to lose the allowance said they would sacrifice essentials such as food and water and two-thirds said they would cut back on heating.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners – with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,700 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.
“Anyone who makes a successful claim for pension credit and meets the winter fuel payment eligibility criteria will receive their payment, and we are deploying additional staff to process the expected increase in claims.
“Over a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, and our drive to boost pension credit take up has already seen a 152% increase in claims.
“Many others will also benefit from the £150 warm home discount to help with energy bills over winter while our extension of the household support fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.”
Comment by Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices
Two weeks ago today, supported by the Express, I hand-delivered a huge petition of nearly 150,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street calling for a Budget to protect older people and specifically for extra measures on winter energy support.
I included a letter with the petition asking the Prime Minister to recognise the challenges faced by senior citizens on low incomes and urged him to take steps to restore our trust in his Government.
Not only was the Budget a painful slap in the face for 10 million pensioners, with the decision to scrap their winter fuel payments not even worthy of a mention, but the Prime Minister has compounded the insult by neglecting to acknowledge the delivery of the Silver Voices petition or reply to my letter.
We have to conclude that Labour is impervious to public criticism of its policies towards older people and is complacent about the political fall-out because of its large majority in Parliament.
It is making a major mistake to rub the noses of a fifth of the electorate into the dirt.
The consequences of the winter fuel cuts will be felt in the next few weeks. Recent independent research by Uswitch found that an astonishing 1.7 million households in the UK have no plans to switch on their heating this winter, nearly double the figure of last year.
The reason given by a quarter of pensioner households was the winter fuel cuts.
I remember as a child, before most homes had central heating, regularly waking up with frost on the inside of the bedroom window. This will again become the unhealthy reality for so many older people.
The Prime Minister’s disrespect for older people is particularly poignant on Remembrance Day.
Many military veterans will have a small service pension which takes them over the pension credit eligibility limit, and they will lose their whole winter fuel payment. What a way to recognise the sacrifices they made on behalf of us all.
