Labour MP and former shadow cabinet member (and vocal Jeremy Corbyn supporter) Barry Gardiner just revealed that he’s little more than a career politician and Labour Party lackey during a debate into the winter fuel payments on Newsnight. However, a letter he wrote to the BBC in 2019 shows what a political weather vane he is. Because at the time, Gardiner was rallying against a cut that would leave countless older people just above the pension credits threshold vulnerable. Yes, you read that right.
Winter fuel payments: Gardiner shocks us
We’re sure we don’t need to explain to you about the current furore over Labour plans to cut winter fuel payments. Suffice to say, nearly everyone except the majority of the Labour Party thinks it’s a good idea. However, the one good thing to come out of this scandal is that it’s exposed a few previously socialist MPs for who they really are. One of those is Barry.
On Newsnight, Gardiner said:
Now, nobody… in the Labour Party… would like to see the sort of problems that will be caused for elderly people who are just above that threshold of £12,460.
So, why is your Labour Party pushing it then, Barry? Well, he said:
But what was absolutely clear is that every one of them realised that when you inherit a £21.9 billion black hole, not in the future, but in the current year, you have to take tough choices. And what they hope, and I think what was expressed, is that they know that the chancellor wants to make this as easy as possible.
Well, some people (like the Institute for Fiscal Studies and everyone outside of the Labour Party) knew about the £20-odd-billion black hole back in March. So, how’s the chancellor going to make killing-off older people a la Boris Johnson’s ‘let the bodies pile high’ going to be made as “easy as possible”?
That is why there is so much effort being put into now, £500 million going into the payments to local authorities to help people. That’s the reason that they’re actually expanding the applications for pensioner credit. And that can make the difference.
Yeah, but it’s not going to make a difference really, is it Gardiner? Age UK says around one million older people who are £50 or less above the winter fuel payments/Pension Credits cut off will be hit really hard – because they are already in poverty.
So how’s Barry voting?
I will be voting with the government… I won’t be abstaining.
Pension Credits, winter fuel payments, blah, blah, blah
Oh, OK. So will you be pushing the government to maybe taper the income level at which winter fuel payments are cut?
No, I don’t think that’s right. I think the chancellor’s been very clear, and actually ministers have been very clear in the Department of Work and Pensions, that actually there is a huge expansion going on to increase the application of pension or credit.
Yes, but Barry – we’ve just explained why that’s a problem…
Look, nobody comes in wanting to do this. But what you’ve got to say is, how are you going to find the £21.9 billion this is £1.5 billion towards it?
Well, that’s odd. Because the Canary crunched the numbers the other day – and found that the average value of DWP Pension Credits is £3,900 a year. That means it will cost the DWP £3.4bn in the next 12 months – £2bn more than Labour is saving by restricting winter fuel payments.
We’re old enough to remember when…
What say Gardiner to that?
[The winter fuel payments cut and killing older people] will define them as a leadership that is determined to tackle the underlying problems in our economy that we’ve inherited. And they’re going to take the tough decisions to do that.
And there we have it. But if all this seems odd compared to Gardiner’s previous socialist posturing – it’s because it is. A perfect example of this was a letter he sent to the BBC back in 2019 over it’s plans to restrict the licence fee.
Gardiner told the BBC that it’s plans at the time to abolish free licences would “push around 50,000 pensioners below the poverty line”. Gardiner was also concerned that linking it to… wait for it… pensions credits meant many older people would lose out.
What’s the verb for a group of charlatans?
Oh, how the worm turns – like many others who were in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinets. It’s just we didn’t always know until the winter fuel payments crisis:
Barry Gardiner, much like Emily Thornberry, is just another in a long line of Labour 'yes' people who put their careers before the rest of us.
His performance on #Newsnight is shameful. Older people will die #WinterFuelRobbery #WinterFuelPayment pic.twitter.com/MRtjBb4PWy
— Steve Topple (@MrTopple) September 9, 2024
As one X user pointed out, one by one they do indeed turn to shit:
Barry Gardiner, bloody Barry Gardiner, one by one, they turn to shit. https://t.co/7Cv2EnNyzl
— @Liberteguernica. (@liberteguernica) September 9, 2024
The Labour Party cannot be trusted. Nor can the majority of MPs within it. Gardiner is just the latest in a long line of MPs we thought were good uns – who are really just charlatans.
Featured image via BBC iPlayer – screengrab
