Keir Starmer warned elderly people ‘going to die’ as he is confronted on radio show over winter fuel cuts
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned “people are going to die” because of his decision to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners.
The Prime Minister was on Friday confronted in a segment on BBC Radio Lincolnshire as a clip played from a concerned listener who will be impacted by a withdrawal of the benefit.
“Elderly people are literally going to die”, Lincolnshire local Maxine said, “How’s he going to live with that? Is he going to have the courage to back down from a terrible decision?”
He was told Maxine, 63, was wearing extra layers and can’t put the heating on this week in the cold weather due to the Winter Fuel cuts.
Sir Keir told presenter Sean Dunderdale: “There’s the warm homes discount for people who need that support and I’d happily make that available to your programme so that people can get access to it but at the moment and until we bring into force the changes, the allowance is paid to everyone irrespective of whether they need it or not.
“And there’s a lot of pensioners who say ‘I don’t actually need it’, and I then have to answer the question, ‘What difficult decisions can we make to ensure we can use our money most effectively?’
The PM went on to discuss steps taken to boost funding for the NHS to bring down waiting lists, and encouraged those eligible for pension credits to ensure they take them up.
In response, Mr Dunderdale suggested people like Maxine could be on waiting lists if unable to warm their homes.
The Winter Fuel Payment, worth between £100 and £300, was previously handed to around 10million people during the winter and helped with energy bills. But from this month it will only be available to those on pension credit or other means-tested benefits.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said cuts aim to save the Treasury £1.5billion a year.
The Governments own estimates earlier this week revealed tens of thousands more pensioners will be in poverty every year as a result of the restriction to the winter fuel allowance.
Limiting the payment will mean an estimated 50,000 more pensioners are in relative poverty after housing costs next year, and 100,000 more in 2026, official modelling showed.