Sir Keir Starmer is under major fire this afternoon after he refused to rule out clobbering pensioners even more in the forthcoming Budget.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Tory MP Louie French rose to demand answers around rumours the government may be planning to withdraw two further crucial support measures from older people.
Mr French specified pensioners’ free bus passes, and the single person council tax discount.
Sir Keir ducked the simple question, replying: “As he knows very well, I am not going to preempt the Budget. It will all be set out in due course.”
With a casual wave of his hand, the Prime Minister casually dismissed major concerns some of the most vulnerable Britons may now be feeling, just 24 hours after the Labour Government demonstrated such a callous attitude towards their Winter Fuel Payments.
Keir Starmer dismissed the question with a wave of his hand (Image: Parliament Live)
The Prime Minister’s blasé refusal to answer the crucial question comes after two Labour ministers refused this week to confirm older people will continue to get their free bus passes.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds merely said that a “responsible” government means making decisions “you don’t want to make”.
Meanwhile Lord Hendy said he “hopes” that free bus travel for pensioners will continue, something that will bring little comfort to those already sick and tired of Labour’s relentless onslaught against elderly voters.
Behind the scenes after Prime Minister’s Questions, political journalists are granted a 30-minute ‘huddle’ audience with the PM’s top spokesman and advisors, to probe further on their boss’s Commons answers.
Asked for clarity on whether the PM is committing to continuing free bus passes for pensioners, his spokesman said there are “no plans to change that”, a response commonly used by governments that are planning to change something but don’t want to admit it just yet.
Now pensioners risk losing their bus passes as well as Winter Fuel payments (Image: Getty)
Journalists were then forced to ask whether anyone had bothered to tell the Prime Minister that this is the Government’s position, given he appeared unaware of it in the Commons just some minutes earlier.
Even banking the spokesman’s promise that free busses will stay, pensioners may be more worried about the repeated refusal to commit to retaining the single person council tax discount, a policy that saves the average lonely pensioner hundreds of pounds a year.
They spelt out: “The Chancellor was asked about this this morning, she mentioned TV licences, prescriptions and bus passes.”
Asked specifically about the council tax discount, the spokesman ominously replied: “On that, I would point you to [Keir Starmer’s] words about not getting ahead of the budget.”
