General Election 2024: General UK Politics Discussion here

[El Cid]

1 hour ago, High Chaparral said:

And?

 

Governments always cook the books, the last one overcooked them.

[Mister M]

1 hour ago, High Chaparral said:

And?

Oh dear

[cressida]

Would the Labour Party have won the election if they had announced no winter fuel allowance for pensioners unless they were receiving pension credit?  I have my doubts.

Edited September 9 by cressida

[El Cid]

7 hours ago, cressida said:

Would the Labour Party have won the election if they had announced no winter fuel allowance for pensioners unless they were receiving pension credit?  I have my doubts.

 

The Liberal Democrats are the only party go go into an election promising bad news, with a 1p rise in income tax.

What did the Tories say before they brought in austerity, and the increase in VAT?

[High Chaparral]

7 hours ago, cressida said:

Would the Labour Party have won the election if they had announced no winter fuel allowance for pensioners unless they were receiving pension credit?  I have my doubts.

The Labour party were dishonest in the election campaign because they were consistently asked how they could fund their plans without tax risers.  Their answer was that they would create growth which would avoid tax risers.  No mention of growth since they have been in power but they have stated a tough  budget lies ahead in October. 

[hackey lad]

Do we think Sir Kiers bum is twitching tonight ? 

[crisispoint]

Letter to my MP, Sarah Champion,

Subject winter fuel allowance.

Hi Sarah, I hope you are well.

I also hope you will vote against the government on this issue.

Best Regards,

Chris Stone.

[crisispoint]

The reply from Sarah Champion

Thank you for your email. I do share your concerns. 
 
I have received a great deal of correspondence on this matter and thought it was important to reply to everyone as quickly as I can. 
 
Balancing the books should never be at the cost of cutting much needed support from some of our most vulnerable citizens. Linking the Winter Fuel Payment and Pension Credit is highly problematic and I do not believe that this is the right way to go. The income threshold for eligibility for Pension Credit is extremely low. Many pensioners on very limited, fixed incomes do not qualify and yet will face real difficulty in meeting energy costs without the support the Winter Fuel Payment provides. 
 
Still worse, far too many people who are eligible for this support currently do not claim it, nearly 4,000 people in Rotherham alone. Unclaimed Pension Credit has been well known for years and I have campaigned relentlessly to encourage all those who are eligible to make a claim to do so. This decision makes this more important than ever, and the Government must do far more to encourage an increase in uptake.  This is something I have already discussed both with colleagues in Westminster and with RMBC and I will be working flat out to try to make sure no one in Rotherham misses out on support to which they are entitled. 
 
I am deeply worried, however, that uptake will remain low. Many more pensioners who are not eligible, but are nevertheless on very low incomes, face losing their Winter Fuel Payment. As we move towards colder months, and with energy prices set to rise once again, this comes at the worst possible time. 
 
It isn’t possible to discuss this without recognising the context in which the decision was made. The state of public finances is dire. The Conservative Government misled Parliament, financial regulators and the country on the true scale of the problems it created. I am incredibly angry that their negligence has led us to this point. No one expected Labour’s inheritance to be easy. But the sheer scale of the black hole in departmental budgets could not be anticipated in the face of the dishonesty of the previous administration. All that said, I still feel those with the broadest shoulders should carry the greatest burden. 
 
Labour does have ambitious plans to fix our energy market, including the establishment of Great British Energy, to invest in cheaper, home generated green energy and move past our reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets. But these are long term solutions and do little to support those in immediate need. 
 
Sadly, on Tuesday it is a Statutory Instrument (SI) which is secondary legislation. The Government has already made the choice, this is just tying up loose legal ends. The vote is to say the SI has been heard, not to accept the decision or not. I apologise for seeming to be pedantic over this but I am aware some people are suggesting it is possible to vote against the measure and stop the change - and this is not the case. 
 
I have been working hard behind the scenes to make clear to Government ministers that they must do more to support those in Rotherham facing hardship as a result of this decision, to encourage far greater uptake of Pension Credit and to ensure that no-one is forced to go cold this winter. I will keep up the pressure going forwards. 
 
I'm sorry I don't have a magic wand to change this, and I know my answer isn't what you want to hear, but thank you again for taking the time to get in touch and share your views.

 
Kind regards

[crisispoint]

Further correspondence.

Thank you so much for your reply, it's very detailed. But may I remind you that while many pensioners may not have voted labour, they have children and grandchildren that probably did, they will remember that the party that was set up to protect the labouring classes and the vulnerable, failed to support their elderly relatives.

Best regards,

[crookesey]

It’s quite simply a case of ‘we’re in charge now and can do anything that we wish’. They carry on blaming ‘the previous government’ for anything that hurts, and IMHO will continue doing so until they are ‘the previous government’.

 

I was born when Labour were in charge, and looking at my current age will very likely die with them in charge, which makes the latter far more acceptable. 🤨