WES Streeting has faced a grilling over pensioners being forced to go into debt to turn their heating on after Labour cut the Winter Fuel Payment.
The UK Health Secretary was asked about advice Age UK is giving to older people who need the benefit but will no longer receive it, with the charity suggesting people should go into debt rather than not turn their heating on this weekend with temperatures set to plunge.
The UK Health Security Agency has warned the cold snap could put the elderly at risk of death and has criticised the decision to cut the Winter Fuel Payment.
BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt asked Streeting: “We've spoken to Age UK this morning in relation to ... this coming weekend, people who are cold in their homes. They've said there are two and a half million people who needed the winter fuel allowance who won't receive it because of the changes that were brought in.
“They are saying they would be advising people if they're cold in their homes and they're elderly and vulnerable to go into debt rather than risk their health. Would you advise the same?"
Streeting admitted that he would "certainly agree" that this is a weekend to put the heating on.
He said: "Well, this is definitely a weekend to turn the heating on, and I'll just remind people that the Chancellor did take the decision to protect winter fuel allowance for the poorest pensioners to protect people this winter and in future winters.”
The Health Secretary then went on to say the state pension would be higher this winter than it was last because of the triple lock.
Practically the whole of the UK has been placed under a yellow weather warning for snow from midnight on Sunday and until 12pm on Monday.
Last summer the UK Labour Government announced it would be removing the Winter Fuel Payment from all but the poorest pensioners, with only those on Pension Credit or other similar benefits now receiving it.
'This is definitely a weekend to turn the heating on' Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting spoke to #BBCBreakfast about the decision to axe winter fuel payments for the elderly as a cold snap impacts many parts of the UKhttps://t.co/5CePBHjr1Q pic.twitter.com/YnzFTNk6Nr
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) January 3, 2025
Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed she was left with no other option because of a £22 billion “black hole” left by the previous Tory government, but the decision is one of many which has set Labour’s ratings spiralling downwards since they came back into power.
Ministers previously estimated that 880,000 households were eligible for Pension Credit who were yet to claim, meaning they were also set to lose out on the allowance. Official data released in November showed only 42,500 - fewer than 5% of those eligible - have had their applications approved.
During the same month the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)'s own internal analysis showed that ministers were aware that hundreds of thousands of pensioners will be pushed into poverty due to the winter fuel cuts but they decided to continue with the decision.
A decision not to give women born in the 1950s affected by sudden changes to the state pension age – otherwise known as Waspi [Women Against State Pension Inequality] women – before Christmas has also been heavily condemned and blamed for Starmer’s plummeting approval ratings.
On Thursday, 20 councillors in England decided to ditch Labour because of the way the party was being run under Starmer.
The group – who will now run Broxtowe Borough Council as independents in a minority administration – claimed the party has “abandoned traditional Labour values” and criticised policies such as cutting the Winter Fuel Payment.
A poll at the turn of the year also showed voters consider the Labour UK Government to be “incompetent” and “dishonest”.
In a YouGov survey for The Times, just over half described the Government using these words while just a quarter said the opposite.
The poll also found that 56% believe the Government has been unsuccessful, with only 12% saying Labour have been successful.
