Labour peer warns about excess deaths from Winter Fuel cut
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Worried pensioners have said they will have to choose between heating and eating to pay their bills after Rachel Reeves’ cruel cut to Winter Fuel Allowance.
Following the launch of this newspaper’s Save Winter Fuel Payments Crusade, a swathe of older people have shared heartbreaking personal stories of how losing the essential lifeline later this year will impact them.
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Readers detailed the terrible choice they now face this Christmas between keeping themselves warm or putting food on the table, as millions are forced to find up to ￡300 in savings to make up for the Government’s changes.
Exasperated Lynne, 70, from Cumbria, explained how she and her partner’s ￡13,000 pension means they will now have to work extra hours despite ill health because of Ms Reeves’ decision to withdraw Winter Fuel Payments.
She explained: “My husband has bladder cancer and I have COPD and scoliosis."
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READ MORE: Dozens of MPs back Express crusade to scrap Winter Fuel Payment changes
Readers have expressed their fear about this coming winter (Image: Rachel Reeves X)
She added: “We cannot afford to stop working so the heating allowance - or lack of it - would mean possible hospital admissions for both of us if we get too cold or hungry.
“All we can hope for is to die quickly this winter. I hope Rachel Reeves is proud of herself.”
Her anger was matched by fellow pensioner Peter Sanford, who warned: “Many pensioners will die from hypothermia this winter”.
Ray Henderson, 71, said many pensioners will “just have to get another blanket, grin and bear it”.
He added: “I do hope we don’t have a bad winter, or there will be a lot of people getting very ill, or worse may die, because of what Labour have done.
“What they have done is upset the majority of people who put them in power - the older generation - and we won’t forget!”
Another pensioner was equally outraged that the “once-boasted ‘Party of the People’ have slashed OAPs’ Winter Fuel Payments”.
They said: “Pensioners face widespread suffering - and freezing to death - this winter as the energy bill support is axed by Sir Keir Starmer’s political mafia”.
Shadow minister Caroline Johnson has warned about excess winter deaths (Image: Caroline Johnson)
Pauline Grundy warned the Chancellor: “I hope she’s got enough money in the kitty to pay for all the extra medical care the elderly suffering from hypothermia are going to need”.
Warnings over potential excess winter deaths as a result of Labour’s callous decision have been raised by one of the party’s own Peers, Lord Sikka, who demanded to know whether ministers have made estimates of how many pensioners could lose their lives.
Lord Sikka, one of the few Labour politicians publicly rebelling against the policy, told parliament: “Around two million pensioners are caught in the income tax net because of frozen tax thresholds.
“Now we are taking away another ￡300 from the same people by a measure that was not in our manifesto and I’ve already received many messages where pensioners are very, very, very concerned about this.”
He added: “Last year, ￡5,000 pensioners died because of the cold, and being unable to afford heating. Has the minister made any estimates of how many more will die because ￡300 will be taken away from them?”
Minister Lord Livermore - a former advisor to Gordon Brown - refused to say whether the Treasury has made any such assessment.
He repeated the Government’s claim that the choice to take away Winter Fuel Payments from millions “is not an easy decision and I understand why there is disappointment about this, but it is the right decision in the circumstances”.
Warnings about the potentially deadly impact of Rachel Reeves’ announcement have also been echoed by the Conservative Party.
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Yesterday [FRI], shadow Health Minister Dr Caroline Johnson cited the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report from 2023, which said: “Cold homes and fuel poverty are directly linked to excess winter deaths”.
“Dr Caroline told the Express: “Excess winter deaths are associated with cold homes”.
“If elderly people cannot afford to heat their homes they are at increased risk of becoming ill.
“The Labour government have chosen to scrap the winter fuel payment for millions of vulnerable pensioners.
“They must urgently reconsider.”
Simon Francis, of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, has warned how frontline NHS staff “know all too well the horrors that come from vulnerable groups living in cold damp homes”.
“Without this financial assistance we will see more older people living in fuel poverty and - as a result - potentially turning to the doors of the NHS.”
According the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, estimates suggest that some 10% of excess winter deaths each year are directly attributable to fuel poverty, and 21.5% are attributable to cold homes.
The backlash against Ms Reeves’ changes to Winter Fuel Payments continued to grow yesterday, as an Express Online poll of 14,000 readers found 97% want the Chancellor to reverse the policy.
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Dozens more MPs have backed the Express’ crusade, including top Tory Alicia Kearns who echoed concerns around pensioners being “left to get ill in cold, damp homes”.
She contrasted this with Labour’s recent public sector pay settlements, which make up a huge percentage of the ￡22billion black hole Ms Reeves claims she needs to fill.
The Shadow Foreign Office Minister warned: “With energy bills set to rise by around ￡155 at Christmas, pensioners are being left to get ill in cold,
damp homes while Labour prioritises raising the average salary of a train driver to just shy of ￡70,000 on a 4 day week”.
“Is it any coincidence that ASLEF, the train union, made Labour’s biggest trade union donation in the election?
“There is no denying spending pressures result in choices, however it is cynical theatrics to pretend public finances were a mystery when the IFS and Labour both stated during the election that the books were open for all to see.
“I will do all I can to fight this disgraceful decision - all affected pensioners should check whether you can access pensions credits, as too many who are eligible, don’t.”
The Express’ new campaign was launched on Wednesday, headed up by former Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, who led demands for Rachel Reeves to stop the rob of millions of pensioners.
Responding to the testimony from readers, a government spokesman said: “We are committed to pensioners: protecting the triple lock, keeping energy bills low through our Warm Homes Plan, and cutting NHS waiting lists – bringing real stability to people’s lives."
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“We said we would be honest with the public and, given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, we are taking difficult decisions to fix the foundations of the economy.
“In these circumstances it is right that Winter Fuel Payment are targeted at those in most need, and we will work with Local Authorities to boost the uptake of Pension Credit, reaching the many pensioners who could still benefit from this year’s Winter Fuel Payments.”
We are asking readers to tell us why they need the Winter Fuel Payment by emailing news.desk@express.co.uk or filling out our campaign coupon.
To sign the petition calling for the winter fuel payment to be saved, visit Change.org