The Labour Party has attacked Conservative plans to introduce means testing to the Winter Fuel Payment policy, with the Bath parliamentary candidate branding it ‘a shameless attack’.
Latest figures suggest that ten million older people, five out of six pensioners, are set to lose their Winter Fuel Payments, worth up to £300, across the country.
The Labour Party introduced the Winter Fuel Payments scheme in 1997, and by 2010 over 900,000 pensioners had been lifted out of poverty.
In Bath, the number of pensioners in receipt of Winter Fuel Payments is 16,470. However the number affected by the proposals is expected to be around 14,500, roughly 88% of those currently entitled.
Debbie Abrahams, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “The Conservative Party is completely abandoning older people by scrapping the pensions ‘triple lock’, removing the Winter Fuel Allowance from 10 million pensioners, making 34 million people work longer and forcing those who need care to pay for it with their family home.
“This is the direct result of seven years of Tory economic failure. Labour completely opposes this shocking attack on a whole generation.
“We will deliver a secure and dignified retirement for the many, not just the few wealthy enough to manage under these Tory attacks.”
The Tories have also announced they will be dropping their commitment to protect pensions through the ‘Triple Lock’. The Labour Party has confirmed that it will keep the Winter Fuel Payment for every pensioner, along with protecting pensioner income with the ‘Triple Lock’ on pensions.
Joe Rayment, Labour’s Candidate for Bath, said: “This is a shameless attack by the Tories on the living standards of every pensioner across the country. The Labour Party introduced the Winter Fuel Payment as a way to help pensioners heat their homes.
“As a Labour MP I would defend the Winter Fuel Payment so that no one has to choose between eating or heating their homes. Theresa May’s attack on older people shows that the Conservatives cannot be trusted to protect our pensioners.”