Winter fuel allowance result

sharon103

gentleshores

sharon103

gentleshores

The House of Lords debates from today are on Parliament TV at 7.30pm tonight. So I will be watching to see how Baroness Altmann got on with her motion to annul the Gov decision on winter fuel payments.

Thanks for that gentleshores. I'll have a look at that.

The motion failed. So we're stuck with it.

Oh dear. So disappointed
What a load of hard hearted people.
I watched some of it and saw the part with Baroness Sherlock.
Thank you gentleshores.

I watched some of it too. It all seemed to be very casually dismissed and they didn't seem interested. Very disappointed. It looked a bit "I'm alright Jack" to me! Maybe they were scared of losing their own daily allowance if they voted against it. Not sure if the Government could scrap the House of Lords or not!

So that's it then. I did read something that said Keir Starmer had confirmed the bus pass wouldn't be cancelled but he wouldn't make any comment about the single person's council tax, so yes it looks like it's on the cards that that will go in the budget. Which would be outrageous and hit a lot of people hard.

I think their argument over the Winter fuel payment is - pensions go up each year due to the triple lock, therefore we can afford fuel bills. Which is like giving it with one hand and taking it back with the other! Especially when fuel bills are so high.

By the way you can do a fix at the moment for a year. We just did one with Eon. It's slightly less than we were paying last year now. The standing charge is higher, but the price per kw is quite a bit lower, so overall it's saving about £250 a year (because our electricity bill is very high! Hence the saving of £250 a year). That's just for electricity - I don't know about gas.

Our electricity bill is still about £3,000 a year - ie about £250 a month. It used to be £1200 a year before the pandemic. It is still double what it used to be (more than double as I've had health issues and we need it on more and I need to use the tumble drier or I can't manage).

I heard on the radio that mp's where told if they voted against they would lose their whip

It's as if our Wonderful Leaders have deliberately sat down and said to each other "OK - which categories of the Great British Public can least withstand our proposal to slash and burn the state support systems? Let's get them by the throat..........but on no account can we touch the rich!"

That sounds a bit too simplistic and over-dramatic, but I think it conveys the idea.

2oaktrees

I heard on the radio that mp's where told if they voted against they would lose their whip

That’s the technique another famous leader used, though not in the Houses of Parliament.
It worked then and it evidently still works now.

Can someone tell me how you add emojis/smilies on here? I can't seem to work out how.

If you have a smartphone you can add emojis from there.
On GN click on the smiley face under the comment box and it will give you options.
They appear as text in your message e.g. but you can see them in the preview.

e.g.(shock) but with square brackets but you see the emoji when you preview or post.

mae13

It's as if our Wonderful Leaders have deliberately sat down and said to each other "OK - which categories of the Great British Public can least withstand our proposal to slash and burn the state support systems? Let's get them by the throat..........but on no account can we touch the rich!"

That sounds a bit too simplistic and over-dramatic, but I think it conveys the idea.

It might be simplistic - and dramatic - but it's nonetheless true.

Labour prefer the easier option. Which is to pretend that there are no others and therefore public-spending has to be, yet again, cut.

It's easier to confront the anger of low-income pensioners than it is to confront the power of Capital. That's why they will not apply any wealth taxes or other measures that might redistribute away from the bloated wealthy towards public services.

There is a meme circulating showing Starmer and Reeves approaching a couple of well wrapped up Pensioners. The caption is “ We’ve come for your coats.”

If we can laugh at all these memes it should keep us warm.

thank you. Can I only add them in my message box or onto the one before? Like a "like"?

If Starmer needs help to get his glasses and buy clothing for his i wife why doesn't he get rid of the TV licence for all those on low inçomes all those who don't watch Bbc just anyone not happy about it Oh and maybe means tested clothing grants If he needs so much why does he not help those with not much

Shouldn't he try to lead by example Does his wife really need expensive clothes that a prime minister can't afford to buy himself for her

Why can't she hire them for posh do's like Buckingham Palace?

TakeThat7

Shouldn't he try to lead by example Does his wife really need expensive clothes that a prime minister can't afford to buy himself for her

But therein lies the rub - he can easily afford it !

gentleshores

thank you. Can I only add them in my message box or onto the one before? Like a "like"?

You can just put an emoticon in your message box with no comment. The danger with that is however quick you are, other posts may appear before your emoticon.
Better to use the quote facility and add your
😁 👏 💐 😱 then.

I still find it very surprising that everyone is so eager to have a go at Parliament with regards to the WFA, but surely, the real culprits in this is the energy companies. They are charging quite obscene prices, particularly the Sanding Charge, and paying out enormous sums to CO;s and to their share holders. There would beno need of the WGA if fuel charges were very much lower, and this, surely, should be where the real anger should be directed.

Franbern
that’s a good idea, but the government would have to tackle the energy companies.
They are a much more difficult target than pensioners and have the power to resist having their money taken away from them.

I think the govt have plans for a new energy system/plan/company.

I'm not sure how it will work for our bills, but it will hopefully include lowering them, along with other strategies.

KS still not able to bring himself to apologise to pensioners about WFA.

MissAdventure

I think the govt have plans for a new energy system/plan/company.

I'm not sure how it will work for our bills, but it will hopefully include lowering them, along with other strategies.

It’s going to be based in Aberdeen so I read, GB Energy?

Oh yes!
That's the one - I sometimes think that I make things up, and I thought that was one of them.

I'm relieved to know I did actually read it.

I wish the gifts had not been accepted but it's clear they have been weaponized by the Tory gutter press and used to draw attention away from 14 years of hopeless Tory rule under less than competent Prime Ministers. We need to move on to real policy issues like the NHS and cost of living on which Labour will eventually be judged by the electorate.

Lisaangel10

KS still not able to bring himself to apologise to pensioners about WFA.

I don’t understand why an apology is expected given this is government policy

I'm still waiting for an apology due when working tax credit was changed to universal credit, because I lost about £500 a year.