MP to 'fight' winter fuel cuts after worried emails

The Chelmsford MP Marie Goldman said pensioners have been "let down"

An MP said she "dreads to think" that her constituents may not turn on the heating this winter if cuts to benefits, designed to support pensioners, were made.

Marie Goldman, who became Chelmsford's first Liberal Democrat MP in July, joined all 72 MPs in her party to oppose changes to winter fuel payments.

Around £300 had previously been paid to pensioners automatically to help with the cost of energy bills, but Labour planned to make it available to only those receiving pension credit.

Mrs Goldman said: "It feels like this is a really poorly thought through policy being brought in very, very quickly without any sort of safety net for people who will be very severely affected by this."

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told the BBC that he was "doing the difficult things now" and said the previous Conservative government had "run away" from tough decisions.

'Pensioners let down'

MPs will vote on proposals to scrap the universal payments on Tuesday with any changes expected to be included in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget next month.

If backed, it would affect about 10 million pensioners in England and Wales. More than 326,000 people in Essex received the payments in the winter of 2022/23, Department for Work and Pensions figures showed.

Mrs Goldman said she had been inundated with emails from worried residents in her constituency.

"I have had hundreds of emails on this subject, it is clearly something people are very worried about," she said.

"I dread to think of somebody not turning on the heating and getting some awful infection, maybe getting pneumonia and ending up in hospital, simply because this £300 has been taken away from them.

"I think they’ve let pensioners down and I think they’ve let my constituents down and that’s why we are fighting against this."

Epping Forest MP Dr Neil Hudson said he would also vote against the government

Other opposition MPs in Essex have also hit our about Labour's plans. Dr Neil Hudson, the Conservative MP for Epping Forest, said: "Pensioners absolutely deserve dignity and respect in retirement.

"The Winter Fuel Payments are a backbone of this support and this Labour policy is misguided. It upsets me that a forward-looking nation would even consider a policy that could see many older people live in cold and discomfort."

Number of people receiving winter fuel payments, by constituency, in Essex in 2022/23:

• Basildon and Billericay – 15,526

• Braintree – 20,029

• Brentwood and Ongar – 19,248

• Castle Point – 21,367

• Chelmsford – 18,518

• Clacton – 27,847

• Colchester – 16,617

• Epping Forest – 17,692

• Harlow - 15,243

• Harwich and North Essex – 23,073

• Maldon - 21,886

• Rayleigh and Wickford – 21,856

• Rochford and Southend East – 17,768

• Saffron Walden – 22,703

• South Basildon and East Thurrock – 17,038

• Southend West – 17,666

• Thurrock – 14,217

• Witham – 19,746

'Absolutely committed'

The government said there was a £22bn "black hole" in public finances, but it would keep the triple lock guarantee which could see pensions money go up by £300 to £400 in April next year.

David Burton Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, said he would support the government.

"The Labour Party was given a mandate to get this country back on its feet and difficult choices must be made," he said.

"The winter fuel allowance is not being taken away, it will continue for everyone on pension credit and we have launched a new campaign to boost its uptake."

Research carried out by the charity Independent Age, back in 2019, found 33,000 households across Essex were entitled to pension credit but were not claiming it.

Other Essex Labour MPs, Bayo Alaba for Southend East and Rochford, Pam Cox for Colchester, and Chris Vince for Harlow, have all been contacted for comment.

A government spokesperson said: "We are absolutely committed to supporting pensioners, over 12 million of whom could see their State Pensions increase by almost a thousand pounds over the next five years.

“But given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, it’s right that we target support to those who need it most."