Irish pensioners to pocket £755 more than British retirees after Labour’s winter fuel raid
Irish retirees will reportedly get as much as £755 more energy support than British pensioners following Labour’s raid on winter fuel payments.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under increasing pressure over the decision to take away payments worth as much as £300 from 10 million pensioners, with the government insisting tough decisions are needed to address a £22billion “blackhole” they claim the Tories left them.
The decision to scrap winter fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioners was estimated to save £1.4 billion.
Reeves opted to retrict the payments winter fuel payments to those on pension credit with a weekly income of £218 and under. But in the Republic of Ireland, retirees in their seventies with an income of £429 a week and under are entitled to support during the colder months worth £28 per week, The Telegraph reports.
It means Irish pensioners with with income of up to £22,308 can claim around £750 to heat their homes annually, while British retirees making as little as £11,500 per year will get no support.
The Chancellor speaking at the autumn conference on Monday. (Image: Getty)
In Ireland pensioners can collect a pension of up to £233 a week, or £12,100 a year, after 48 years of contributions.
British retirees must make 35 years of contributions to collect full new state pension, which amounts to £221.20 a week, or £11,502 a year, though the state pension triple lock is expexted to raise it to £11,962 in 2025.
Last week the government came under renewed pressure to think the decision after receiving a boost of up to £10billion ahead of the Budget.
On Friday, members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said Threadneedle Street will shrink its balance sheet by carrying out £100bn of quantitative tightening (QT) over the next 12 months.
The BoE policymakers’ decision to slow the sale of government bonds means Reeves has up to £10bn of headroom ahead of her first Budget on October 30, reducing the need to clash spending and bring in hefty tax hikes.
Reeves and Starmer at the event in Liverpool (Image: Getty)
Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said the ministers should “absolutely” review the change after the Bank of England’s decision.
“It’s a responsible decision if they have got additional funding. I think there are many demands, but this is most urgent to keep people safe this winter,” she told The Times.
Defending the move again in her speech at the Labour Party Annual Conference today, Reeves said: “We cancelled road and rail projects promised by the Conservatives, which they did not budget for.
“And I made the choice to means test the winter fuel payment so that it’s only targeted to those most in need. I know that not everyone in this hall or in the country will agree with every decision that I make.
“I will not duck those decisions for political expediency, not for personal advantage,” she added.
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Labour-run UK city looking to bring in new tourist tax – ‘crying out for it’
Liverpool, a staunch Labour council city, is demanding the implementation of a tourist tax (Image: Getty )
A major UK city is “crying out for a tourist tax” similar those considered and being enforced by sun-kissed European destinations in Spain, Italy and Greece, the council leader claims.
Liverpool Labour council leader Liam Robinson was speaking during a fringe event during the Labour Party Conference in the city discussing how the city could tackle mounting financial problems.
Cllr Robinson, who became leader of Liverpool City Council in May, said a tax paid by tourists coming to the city would help to address budget issues.
He told the Liverpool Echo: “This city is crying out for a tourist tax. Lets be honest, it makes sense. It won’t solve all of our financial problems of course but it will certainly help.”
The council leader also called on the new Labour government to introduce new multi-year council funding settlements to help struggling local authorities make financial plans for the years ahead. Short-term settlements have been a bugbear of town hall bosses for years.
International visitors come to Liverpool for its sporting and musical heritage (Image: Getty )
Tourist taxes are used in many cities around Europe. It means visitors staying in those areas have an extra levy imposed on them when they stay in those locations. The taxes are usually paid indirectly through accommodation providers or holiday companies.
Liverpool has become a cultural and visitor powerhouse in recent years and Cllr Robinson said such a tax could help to address some of the financial crises being faced by the cash-strapped council.
Last year Manchester became the first UK city to implement a new visitor charge. It means that overnight guests in city centre hotels or holiday apartments are charged £1 a night. The policy raised £2.8m in its first year.
Labour and Sir Keir Starmer are hosting their party conference in the city (Image: Getty )
Cllr Robinson was joined on the panel by Kim McGuinness, the Mayor of the North East. She hit out at what she claimed was a “hunger games” style Levelling Up policy of the previous government.
She claimed Councils and regional leaders were often angry at being forced to compete with one another for pots of funding under the policy.
Ms McGuinness told the event: “They made us compete for these one-off, crappy, biddable funds and it actually meant that the gap between the north and the south got bigger. What we are looking at now is single funding settlements for city regions.”
