Energy price cap rise: Winter Fuel Payment cut becoming more “callous” by the day
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government must immediately U-turn on their cruel decision to means-test pensioners' for winter fuel payments as energy prices skyrocket, says Scottish Greens spokesperson for social security and equality, Maggie Chapman MSP.
Ofgem has today announced that the energy price cap will rise by £21 per year to £1,738 in January. The price cap is reviewed every three months and the further increase over some of the harshest, coldest months of the year will continue to plunge vulnerable people and families further into fuel poverty.
Ms Chapman says: “This increase will further punish people and families all across the UK.
“The Labour Party should be utterly ashamed of their decision to cut Winter Fuel Payments and to force thousands of pensioners way beyond having to choose between heating their home and eating.
“With bills soaring and temperatures plummeting, this cut is becoming more callous with every passing day. People will die because of it.
“The support that the UK offers to pensioners is already far too low, and so many are having their budgets stretched by rising living costs.
“Means testing is wrong. It creates stigma. It creates cracks for people to fall through, while fuelling division with questions about who is worthy of receiving services and who is not.
“A lot of pensioners already living in fuel poverty are no longer eligible for this benefit because they are only a few pounds over the threshold.
“We all have the right to a warm home, but Sir Keir Starmer is taking it away from people all over our country. It is time for him to admit he was wrong, reverse this disastrous move and protect people through a long, cold winter.”
