Rachel Reeves has announced that winter fuel payments will only be paid to those on Pension Credit.nsion Credit

GrannyGravy13

Ladyleftfieldlover

I honestly think Rachel Reeves is genuinely very annoyed at the state of the country’s finances. I don’t think you can say that Labour don’t like pensioners! I’m sorry that some GNs will suffer because of the decision on fuel allowance being limited to those on various benefits. Sadly there has to be a line drawn and there will always be people caught just in the wrong place. Don’t despise Labour yet.

Don’ t make excuses for RR

She knows this will cause hardship, and doesn’t give a fig.

It will cause hardship to some. Some will continue to winter in Spain, enjoy spa breaks and increase the rent for their tenants.

Is it poor Rachel Reeves who barely manages on around £91K year? I wonder how much of a % increase they will be giving to themselves?

I agree that the 25% discount if living alone will be next but please give us a week to absorb this.

Surely we do not need free bus passes when we can shuffle to the local library to keep warm.

Thankfully I did not vote for them but they are more underhand than I had envisaged.

J52

Nicenanny3

Nevermind we are giving 86 million to Africa.

Or the Tories giving upwards of £250 million to Rwanda.

For many the Winter Fuel payment was just a bonus, not really needed and some did donate it to a charity. As with the Christmas £10.
Unfortunately with most benefits there will be a cut off and those above will feel aggrieved.
My hope is that further down the line money will be found to help those in need of health care, dental care, decent public services and to reduce bills.

I apologise for not having read the entire thread but I was so relieved to see another poster who reflected my views.
We had a poster recently stating, accurately , that many forum contributors own houses worth over £1m. I’m not one of them by the way.
For many the winter fuel allowance was not needed. Mine went to a family member in need, then to charity.

Juggernaut

Lots of us said 'be careful what you wish for'.
Seems that we did actually know what we were talking about!

Spot on there. 👏👏

I believe I left a post around election time saying “mark my words, we are going to be much worse off.”

I don’t actually need the winter fuel allowance but just like the Child Benefit it was not means tested. Every mother on here would have received that whether they were rich or poor. When I got Family Allowance as it was then called, we hadn’t got two pennies to rub together by Monday morning so I was first in the PO queue!

I don’t know what it is that’s eluding people about the fact that the Tory Governments over the last 14 years have virtually wrecked the UK, we are in dire straits.
The winter fuel allowance was introduced by Gordon Brown, this won’t have been an easy decision for Rachel Reeves. When will people understand that we can’t have the penny and the bun?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the reforms, includingan £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England has to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, will not happen in October next year. (Daily Mail)

The Government website says that the average single female pensioner's income is £259 per week. These are the people who will be badly affected by removing the winter fuel allowance.
I am not suggesting we should cut Child Benefit, but that is only cut for those with a household income above £60,000 a year. Why not cut winter fuel payment for pensioner households with a similar income? Leave those of us low incomes alone.

Casdon

I don’t know what it is that’s eluding people about the fact that the Tory Governments over the last 14 years have virtually wrecked the UK, we are in dire straits.
The winter fuel allowance was introduced by Gordon Brown, this won’t have been an easy decision for Rachel Reeves. When will people understand that we can’t have the penny and the bun?

Keeping the WFA only for those in receipt of certain benefits keeps the cost of administration down. The cost of means testing benefits has often been used as an argument for universal benefits
I’m stunned by comments here criticising this decision, from posters who don’t ‘need’ wfa.

We all knew the Tories were going to leave a lot of debt, Reeves is really rattled that it is more than she expected, she has settled the public sector pay disputes and cancelled unfunded projects.
So far, there will be more to come.

Elusivebutterfly

The Government website says that the average single female pensioner's income is £259 per week. These are the people who will be badly affected by removing the winter fuel allowance.
I am not suggesting we should cut Child Benefit, but that is only cut for those with a household income above £60,000 a year. Why not cut winter fuel payment for pensioner households with a similar income? Leave those of us low incomes alone.

Probably a good idea, but too costly to administer ( we don’t want money wasted).
The Child Benefit cap is organised through the PAYE and tax systems.

Exactly David

Visgir1

Well it's "be careful what you wish for", they were voted in so we have to put up with it.
I'm sorry it's going to effect those just under the Credit limit.
Am I surprised?.. No!
it will be the Tripple Lock next?
They knew well before the election the state of the finances, but they will just spin the facts, that it was a total surprise.

I agree if the Conservative Government had announced this, it would have be all hell.

This.

I don’t need the WFA, but I do know an awful lot of people who do.

They are worried about the coming winter, our friend’s WhatsApp group is busy…

Ilovecheese

This is not how a Labour party should behave. Thank goodness Reeves wasn't chancellor after World War 11, we wouldn't have the NHS. She would have said we couldn't afford it. No vision, no new ideas, just carrying on with austerity, which didn't work for Cameron and Osborne and wont work now.

This.

Well it’s the strangest thing but in Reeves’ position, I would not embark on her particular list of so called essential actions until I had a firmer grasp of the debt situation I had inherited. From memory, doesn’t the Uk have the poorest pension system in Europe? Why pick on the most vulnerable? Forget the glory projects?

ronib 👏👏👏

22% payrise to Junior Doctors got to keep the Unions happy. The Unions run the Labour Party is seems to me.

ronib

Well it’s the strangest thing but in Reeves’ position, I would not embark on her particular list of so called essential actions until I had a firmer grasp of the debt situation I had inherited. From memory, doesn’t the Uk have the poorest pension system in Europe? Why pick on the most vulnerable? Forget the glory projects?

No, the UK doesn’t have the poorest pension in Europe. As this article says, you are comparing apples with pears.
www.ii.co.uk/analysis-commentary/uk-state-pension-really-worst-europe-ii525935

Nicenanny3

22% payrise to Junior Doctors got to keep the Unions happy. The Unions run the Labour Party is seems to me.

They’ve been underpaid for years.

Oh well, it was nothing less than I expected.
Which is why I didn’t, and never will, vote Labour.

I have a friend who has always been single , has always worked, but her private pension takes her a few pounds over being able to claim any additional benefits, these are the people who are going to be hardest hit, not those who for whatever reason have always been on benefits and not those who have substantial private pensions. Unfortunately.

So much for Labour going after the mega rich…

As I said Uk has highest proportion of pensioners living in poverty in Europe according to the information you so kindly provided Casdon

The trouble is that with any benefit it's the people who are just above the qualifying level who are going to suffer. I have to admit that I didn't actually need the allowance, I used to use it to pay for Christmas. Most of my friends seem to be quite comfortable, living in nice houses with the mortgage paid off. One of them also collects rent from another house she owns. I seem to remember that when the fuel payment somebody (it may have been Anne Widdecombe) complained about being given money she didn't need. The answer was that the cost of means testing everyone would have been even more than the cost of the benefit.

What is classified as "low income"? I only have a State pension of about £180 per week. That is it. I spent last winter wrapped up in dressing gowns and blankets and the heating was not on, consequently, the house became incredibly damp.

As for downsizing - that is exactly what we are doing but the removal costs (estate agents, solicitors, removals and the iniquitous stamp duty) is going to be about £25,000. It is not always a feasible option.