When the new Labour Party government immediately went after older people, the Canary and many others warned that their needless assault would cause harm for many. Tragically, Labour didn’t listen, and we’re now seeing the results:
❗️ NEW: 1 million pensioners are skipping meals thanks to Labour's Winter Fuel Payment cuts, reports Guardian.
7 million pensioners are keeping the heating off because Labour's cuts have forced them to stay cold, and applications for pension credit are "overwhelmed". pic.twitter.com/6hFRmUnfLW
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) December 7, 2024
To make things worse, commentator Dan Hodges claims Labour MPs are warning him there’s likely ‘worse to come’:
'Pensioners will die freezing and alone', a minister confided to me about the winter fuel axe. And more Labour MPs tell me they fear worse is to come > Mail on Sunday > https://t.co/sMraY6DG3z
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) December 8, 2024
A million hungry and cold older people
In September 2023, Age UK released data on how many pensioners could feel the brunt of Labour’s harsh policy change:
Age UK analysis reveals 2.5 million older people on low incomes are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payment as a result of the Government’s means-testing decision and will struggle without it – an appreciably higher number than the Charity’s initial estimate of 2 million.
This new figure also excludes the unknown number of pensioners with higher incomes who are sick or disabled and who face unavoidably high energy bills as a result. For example, their homes may need to be especially warm to keep health conditions under control, or they may have to run the washing machine every day because of incontinence.
Age UK analysed data from The Department for Work and Pensions and found that:
- 1.6 million older people who are living in poverty will lose their WFP as they are not receiving any of the qualifying benefits.
- A further 900,000 older people whose incomes are just above the poverty line[ii] will also lose the WFP. These people have incomes which are no more than £55 per week above the poverty line.
Winter has arrived in the UK now, and as a result we’re starting to see the effects. This is clear from a new Age UK report, as covered by the Observer:
More than 1 million people aged 66 or over have been skipping meals, according to Age UK’s data. Again, vulnerable groups are seriously affected, with 620,000 pensioners suffering long-term conditions estimated to be missing meals.
Similar numbers were found to be reducing the number of hot meals they had. Four in nine pensioners – about 5.5 million people – said they were worried that they would not be able to heat their home enough this winter. More than 900,000 pensioners with long-term conditions said they were worried about getting into debt.
Labour politicians including Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting have claimed that pensioners will actually be better off under them because of the party’s broader political platform. These claims have been disputed and pulled apart, with the iPaper noting that measures such as maintaining the pension ‘triple lock’ was actually signed off by Jeremy Hunt earlier this year.
What we’re seeing now is that many pensioners are demonstrably not doing better. There’s also chaos; even those who are still entitled, as the Observer reports:
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced a huge scaling back of winter fuel payments in July – a measure designed to save £1.4bn and help close a black hole in public spending this year.
Under the new system, only those who qualify for pension credit will receive the allowance.
However, there are now warnings that some of those eligible for the payments will not receive them until the end of the winter because the government is struggling to cope with the number of claims, which are running at about 10,000 a week.
In other words, switching from a universal system to a means-tested one hasn’t just excluded many at-need pensioners; it’s also created a layer of bureaucracy which is preventing those who are still entitled from getting what they deserve. Who could have seen that coming? Not Labour, apparently, as they claimed to have not done an impact assessment of their own policy:
In 2017 Labour did analysis that showed up to 4,000 pensioners could die if winter fuel payments were cut.
This morning Wes Streeting confirmed the Labour govt havn't done an impact assessment on the effect of scrapping the universal winter fuel allowance pic.twitter.com/uPwPiD9emL
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) September 12, 2024
The Observer provided further comment from Age UK, highlighting the monumental fuck up that Labour have created:
“There are long delays now waiting for pension credit,” said Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s director. “The problem is the whole system has been overwhelmed. I understand they’re about 12 weeks now. Somebody could apply today for pension credit and be eligible, but if you work it out, they’re not going to hear even if they are successful until the back end of the winter.
“It’s really worrying that people with long-term health conditions are going to be badly hit because they are the most vulnerable. That is extremely bad news for the NHS. We could have avoided this. If this disaster has shown anything to the government, us and the public, it is that the idea that all older people are doing fabulously well and are all very affluent is, sadly, not the case.”
Official figures show that the government has received about 150,000 claims for pension credit in the 16 weeks since Reeves’s announcement in July – a 145% increase in claims in the previous 16 weeks.
And as bad as things seem right now, it’s reportedly the opinion of several Labour MPs that the worst is yet to come.
Labour: ‘bonkers’
Commentator Dan Hodges published a piece on 7 December carrying the comments of several unnamed Labour politicians for the Mail on Sunday. We agree that the Mail outlets are terrible and that Dan Hodges is among the dumbest commentators the UK has ever produced, but they’re also exactly the sort of people that modern Labour MPs would speak to, so of course that’s where the story ended up.
According to Hodges, one minister ‘confided’ in him:
It’s only a matter of time until we get some terrible case… It happens every year, some tragedy where a pensioner dies alone. But this year it will be blamed on us – for winter fuel allowance cuts. And then we’re going to be in the midst of a full-blown crisis.
You’ll notice a theme in the comments Hodges received, which is that these politicians are more concerned about the impact on Labour’s electability than the impact on pensioners. Another MP told him:
Our own analysis shows 100,000 pensioners could be driven into poverty by this. Yet the saving is tiny – just over £1 billion. In the scheme of things, that’s peanuts. Rachel’s supposed to be a smart economist and politician. But where’s the cost-benefit analysis? For the hit we’re going to take politically, it’s bonkers.
A somewhat deluded ‘Labour official’ told Hodges:
People don’t like it. But they understand it
Have you met anyone who ‘understands’ this policy? It’s doubtful if public outcry is anything to go by:
Who guessed when they said vote for change they meant we will starve and freeze more pensioners than the Tories ever did?#LabourFail #SackStarmer pic.twitter.com/SanU54Sw0v
— Devutopia (@D_Raval) December 7, 2024
If you're a Tory/Reform voter and all of a sudden you're worried about one million pensioners skipping meals because they can't afford to eat? Go fuck yourself.
If you're Labour and you can't understand why taking the winter fuel allowance away from poor pensioners sucks?GFY.
— Gyll King Post Skip Diplomacy (@GyllKing) December 7, 2024
Over 1 million pensioners skipping meals after Winter Fuel Allowance cut. Kid Starver is now Granny Starver, too. Horrendous individual!
— Matthew Payne (@Matthew82069336) December 7, 2024
Some are pointing out that Labour is going after the elderly to spare the rich:
Starmer is asked why he thinks he's so unpopular & he says he's had to take tough decisions
The tough decision would have been to take on the billionaires by introducing a wealth tax. Targeting pensioners, poor kids in poverty & people who use the bus are easy decisions for you pic.twitter.com/yjRB0kNHwC
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) December 6, 2024
One million UK pensioners skipping meals amid winter fuel benefit crisis.
Hospital/GP queues will lengthen.
How many will die in one of the richest countries?
1% has more wealth than 70% of the population combined, but govts don't want to upset the richhttps://t.co/Pbk1PcSCxV
— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) December 8, 2024
.@ShockatAdam reads out a letter from Susan, a pensioner who's frightened she won't be able to keep the heating on
Starmer says "tough choices". The tough choice would have been to take on the billionaires by introducing a wealth tax. Taking cash off Susan was the easy choice pic.twitter.com/3ubGYAP2AA
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) December 4, 2024
No money to feed kids or keep pensioners warm, but there's money for this. https://t.co/vtZn35EfN4
— Cyberbint (@SandPatterson) December 7, 2024
Chaos with Keir Starmer
In the run up to the 2015 election, David Cameron infamously tweeted the following:
Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice – stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband: https://t.co/fmhcfTunbm
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 4, 2015
The tweet came back to haunt Cameron and the chaotic year which followed – a year which ended with his resignation. At the same time, though, we likely would have had chaos with Ed Miliband for the same reason we’re experiencing it with Keir Starmer; namely because these people prioritise the rich over everyone else, and doing so is eroding the foundations of our society.
