The UK’s seniors are being urged to claim Pension Credit to blunt government cuts – and silence Rachel Reeves’s critics?
In July, Reeves scaled back the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners so that, from this year, it will no longer be given to all pensioners but only to those who claim Pension Credit.
She said she was doing this because the former – Tory – government had left the nation’s finances in an “unforgivable” state, with a £20 billion “black hole” that somehow needed to be filled.
11.4 million people – all the UK’s pensioners – have received the Winter Fuel Payment up until now. Reeves’s decision means it will be restricted to 1.5 million people – but now she is saying a further 880,000 who would receive Pension Credit if they claimed it would also receive the benefit.
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Pension Credit itself is variable and tops up pensions to a minimum level of £218.15 for a single person or £332.95 for a couple. In that respect, the 2.38 million people who would get it if all 880,000 claimed will only receive the same as other pensioners.
The Winter Fuel Payment is a single, one-off amount of between £100 and £300.
Is that enough to prevent pensioners from having to turn their heating off or down in the coming winter – especially in the light of an expected average energy price hike of £146 per year in October?
It’s hard to tell – although Pension Credit is also a gateway to support with housing costs, council tax, and the TV licence.
The government would still be making a saving of up to £2.7 billion, because nine million people would still be cut out of receiving the Winter Fuel Payment.
It’s not even close to plugging the alleged £22 billion Tory “black hole”, but it will contribute – and Reeves insists that it is only being taken from people who do not need it in any case.
But that hasn’t stopped critics from claiming that thousands of senior citizens will die because of the cold in the coming winter, and that Labour will be to blame.
Did the Tories expect that, when they created their financial “black hole” and left it for Labour?
Almost certainly. They don’t care about pensioners in any way other than as voters who are likely to support them automatically in any election*.
And now the Tories are attacking Labour mercilessly over a crisis that they deliberately created. Let’s all try to remember that.
*With exceptions, I know. Please don’t comment in to complain, just because you are a member of the minority of pensioners who don’t vote Tory.
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Seniors are being urged to claim Pension Credit to blunt government cuts
The UK’s seniors are being urged to claim Pension Credit to blunt government cuts – and silence Rachel Reeves’s critics?
In July, Reeves scaled back the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners so that, from this year, it will no longer be given to all pensioners but only to those who claim Pension Credit.
She said she was doing this because the former – Tory – government had left the nation’s finances in an “unforgivable” state, with a £20 billion “black hole” that somehow needed to be filled.
11.4 million people – all the UK’s pensioners – have received the Winter Fuel Payment up until now. Reeves’s decision means it will be restricted to 1.5 million people – but now she is saying a further 880,000 who would receive Pension Credit if they claimed it would also receive the benefit.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Pension Credit itself is variable and tops up pensions to a minimum level of £218.15 for a single person or £332.95 for a couple. In that respect, the 2.38 million people who would get it if all 880,000 claimed will only receive the same as other pensioners.
The Winter Fuel Payment is a single, one-off amount of between £100 and £300.
Is that enough to prevent pensioners from having to turn their heating off or down in the coming winter – especially in the light of an expected average energy price hike of £146 per year in October?
It’s hard to tell – although Pension Credit is also a gateway to support with housing costs, council tax, and the TV licence.
The government would still be making a saving of up to £2.7 billion, because nine million people would still be cut out of receiving the Winter Fuel Payment.
It’s not even close to plugging the alleged £22 billion Tory “black hole”, but it will contribute – and Reeves insists that it is only being taken from people who do not need it in any case.
But that hasn’t stopped critics from claiming that thousands of senior citizens will die because of the cold in the coming winter, and that Labour will be to blame.
Did the Tories expect that, when they created their financial “black hole” and left it for Labour?
Almost certainly. They don’t care about pensioners in any way other than as voters who are likely to support them automatically in any election*.
And now the Tories are attacking Labour mercilessly over a crisis that they deliberately created. Let’s all try to remember that.
*With exceptions, I know. Please don’t comment in to complain, just because you are a member of the minority of pensioners who don’t vote Tory.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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