Unlike the unions, pensioners do not donate handsomely to the Labour Party. Nor do they bring the country’s infrastructure to a halt.
It is no surprise, then, that they have received nothing but thin gruel from this government, which is socialist at heart.
Dress it up how they like, Labour’s political priorities are clear. After 14 years of rising living standards under the Conservatives, pensioners have been shoved to the back of the queue.
By the Government’s own admission, this policy will throw 100,000 pensioners into poverty. That is clearly not right.
Many of those even eligible for the £300 payment will miss out on this payment. Hundreds of thousands of pensioners are not claiming pension credit and will be left out in the cold without the winter fuel payment they are entitled to.
Worse still, the Government has been taking over 10 weeks to process pension credit applications, meaning many won’t even get their payment until the end of winter.
Cutting the winter fuel payment from pensioners will save the Government around £1.4billion.
Setting up Labour’s new energy quango alone will cost roughly six times that. Abandoning our plans to shrink the Civil Service headcount will cost roughly the same.
When Labour was courting your vote, they allegedly had “no plans” for this exact policy.
It has since turned out to be one of many broken promises. Now we know their new pensions minister doesn’t even believe in the Conservatives’ triple lock policy, things look like they will get worse before they get better.
Pensioners who have worked hard all their lives deserve to be fairly treated in return, not just as low-hanging fruit for a spendthrift socialist government.
Many are now having to make the impossible choice between heating and eating. We should not forgive, nor should we forget, Labour’s bitter betrayal of Britain’s pensioners.
Helen Whately is the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary
