East Midlands retired union committee 'totally betrayed' by plan to cut Winter Fuel Payments
The plan will be voted on in the House of Commons later today
Members of Unite's Retired Committee in the East Midlands are urging MPs to think of their constituents when voting today on the plans to cut the winter fuel allowance.
Under the plans announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in July, winter fuel payments will be restricted to those receiving pension credit, meaning around 10 million pensioners will lose out this winter. It will be voted on in the House of Commons later today.
Sir Keir Starmer insists it’s necessary to stabilise the economy and fill a £22 billion "black hole" in this year's budget left by the Conservative government.
But he's facing growing backlash from unions and some of his own MPs who are calling for a rethink.
Mike McLoughlin is a member of Unite the Unions' Retired Committee in the East Midlands and says he's worried for those who just miss out:
"I know people on the basic pension, some of them are already getting pension credit or other assistance, and they'll get by, maybe not terribly well but they'll get by. But the people I really feel terribly for is the people who are just at about £220 which is just above the cut off point - those people are really going to feel it.
"I think there'll be a lot of difficulty this year, and I think the health service may well find it's overrun with people who are suffering, in the sense that, there's a choice between heating and eating."
Mike also told us what he hopes MPs will think about when voting later:
"Some of them will have come from perhaps humble backgrounds, some of them might have elderly parents or grandparents who may not be terribly well off and although they may not live in their constituency, I would like them to look upon their constituents in the same way they'd look upon their family."
Meanwhile a dozen Labour backbenchers have signed a motion put forward by one of the party's new MPs, Neil Duncan-Jordan, calling on the Government to delay the policy.
The motion has also been signed by six of the seven Labour MPs who lost the whip in July after voting against the King's Speech over the Government's refusal to abolish the two-child benefit cap.
Ahead of the vote, Rachel Reeves will address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday in an effort to address backbench concerns.