Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge MP Ashley Fox has welcomed the Government’s decision to reverse its cut to the winter fuel payments.
More than three-quarters of pensioners will receive the winter fuel payment this year after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed a major policy U-turn this week.
Nine million pensioners in England and Wales with an annual income of £35,000 or less will now be eligible.
The payment, worth up to £300 to help with energy bills during the coldest months, was paid only to those on pension credit last year.
Burnham-On-Sea MP Ashley Fox says: “I welcome the Labour Government’s decision to reverse its cut to the Winter Fuel Payment. It should never have happened in the first place.”
“This U-turn is a direct result of pressure from opposition MPs and the thousands of pensioners and campaigners who stood up and said: enough is enough.”
“The decision to cut the Winter Fuel Payment will have hit over 19,000 pensioners in the constituency last winter. It was wrong, it was unfair, and it showed just how out of touch Labour had become with the realities facing older people on fixed incomes.”
“I opposed this disastrous Labour policy from day one, raising concerns both publicly and in Parliament. After weeks of ignoring the issue, Keir Starmer has finally admitted what we all knew: this policy was a mistake.”
The policy was widely blamed for Labour’s poor local election results across the UK last month. Reeves said the government had “listened to people’s concerns.”
