- The Labour Government has chosen to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment for 88,246 pensioners across Bexley and Bromley despite promising to protect the benefit during the general election.
London Assembly Member for Bexley and Bromley, Thomas Turrell, has called on the Labour Government to reverse its plan to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment which will impact ten million pensioners, including 52,062 in Bromley and 36,184 in Bexley.
Just weeks after the election, the new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a cut to the Winter Fuel Payment which will reduce it by between £100 and £300, money that would usually have helped pensioners with their heating bills during the winter.
Between 2010 and 2023, the Conservatives had lifted over 200,000 pensioners out of absolute poverty. The Conservative Government’s unprecedented cost of living support following Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine also prevented 400,000 pensioners from falling into absolute poverty after housing costs in 2022-23.
Labour’s scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment comes despite Labour’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones MP, saying that Labour had ‘no plans to make changes’ to pensioner benefits.
Thomas said:
“The new Labour Government has chosen to remove the Winter Fuel Payment from over 88,000 pensioners across Bexley and Bromley and this will have a devastating impact on vulnerable people this winter.
“Rachel Reeves must reverse this decision so that those who worked hard and saved all of their life, live with dignity and security in retirement.”
