Sir Keir Starmer will come under more pressure from OAPs outraged at the stripping back of the payments when a mass protest is staged on Monday outside the Houses of Parliament.
The National Pensioners Convention and the Unite trade union have joined forces (Image: Getty)
The National Pensioners Convention has joined forces with the giant Unite trade union to push for a reversal of the Government’s decision to deny the support to all but the poorest pensioners.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell, who plans to speak at the demonstration, said: “Pensioners are so worried about the winter ahead that they are taking to the streets and will be lobbying MPs in Parliament. Their concerns must be heard, and three weeks ahead of the budget, mitigation put in place.
“Now MPs have been in their constituencies, they would have heard how pensioners’ money will not stretch far enough to meet the rising pressures on their rent, food and energy, and Government need to respond to this.”
Monica Taylor, who chairs the NPC, said: “Pensioners on as little as £220 per week will be missing out on the winter fuel payment this year.”
In a swipe at the Labour Government, she said: “The public voted for change. We did not vote to take money off poor pensioners while leaving the super-rich untouched.”
This latest intervention comes on the heels of a embarrassing defeat for the Labour leadership at the party conference in Liverpool over a motion to reverse the cuts.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, had a message of support for the protesters.
She said: “At Age UK we warmly congratulate the National Pensioners Convention for organising this rally and the parliamentary meeting to follow, and we thank all those older people who have made the – sometimes very considerable – effort to attend it in Westminster. Certainly, anyone who thinks that this issue is going to quietly fade away any time soon is badly mistaken.
“We sincerely hope that these events will encourage ministers to reconsider their savage cut to winter fuel payment and either halt the change until it can be properly looked at in the spring, or at the very least bring forward measures in the Budget on October 30 to protect all the pensioners living below and just above the poverty line.”
She fears retirees will put their health at risk because they are worried they cannot afford to turn on the heating.
“It’s unconscionable that this is where we are, with so many older people in our country scared of running their heating in the cold weather this winter,” she said. “However, it is within the power of our Government to change this for the better and we very much hope they will.”
Meanwhile, Labour has been accused of breaking over parliamentary rules by “deliberately withholding” the impact assessment about the cutsto the winter fuel payments.
Documents showing that seven out of 10 disabled pensioners are in line to lose payments only came to light when Labour was forced to publish an equality assessment to comply with Freedom of Information rules.
Tories believe withholding the information may constitute a breach of Cabinet Office guidance and potentially the ministerial code.
Shadow Leader of the Commons Chris Philp, claims the Government breached “long-standing constitutional conventions on ministerial accountability to Parliament”.
He said the “appalling” decision left politicians in the dark about the extent to which pensioners would be worse off.
“It chose only to make it available once the vote on the regulations had been won, and after Parliament had risen,” he said. “As a result, there would not be a timely opportunity for members of this House to question the Government about the impact that cutting winter fuel payments will have on their constituents.”
