Hopefully, MPs can prevent the assault on Britain's vulnerable pensioners
Labour has passed the buck to MPs to make the decision on whether winter fuel payments get scrapped - let's hope they make the right decision, says James Whale.
Finally, some good news from our socalled government on the winter fuel allowance tax grab on pensioners.
After robbing our country’s elderly to pay the inflated wages of greedy public service workers – not to mention weeks of stubborn refusal to see their mistake – Labour’s passed the buck to MPs to make the final decision. It’s unfathomable to me that we’ve got this far before the Prime Minister realised his utter balls-up.
Scrapping the payment for hard-up pensioners while awarding an inflation-busting rise of £10,000 to train drivers already on £65,000 – simply for moving levers and pressing buttons – is beyond scandalous.
No wonder politicians across the board agree. But rather than admitting his blunder to avoid an embarrassing U-turn, Keir Starmer has decided to take the coward’s way out.
By asking Parliament to clear up his mess for him. I just hope that the people who work for us make the right decision when it comes to posting their vote. Because it sure ain’t the one we’ve already seen. And let me just point out something for the benefit of all. It’s easy for the young to lambast the old for receiving what they perceive to be ill-deserved advantages.
But the vast majority in receipt of the winter fuel payments are people who’ve worked tirelessly all their lives contributing to the system.
These are generations – because it’s not just one any longer – who scrimped and scraped their way up the housing ladder, didn’t rack up thousands of pounds on credit cards, and who wouldn’t have dreamt of taking sick days unless they were already at death’s door.
We owe these people a great deal. Our respect and gratitude not only for diligently paying their taxes but saving whatever they often had left over to help their children and grandchildren. Lots of these retirees are not wealthy despite Labour’s insistence to the contrary.
Now, the Government wants to ask these same people, some of whom are surviving on a paltry £13,000 a year, to sit in the cold this winter without heating. I hope MPs can prevent this situation from becoming a reality. Otherwise, I fear what may become of vulnerable persons this winter.
