Government admits 100k more pensioners to fall into poverty due to Winter Fuel Payment cut
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today responded to figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions which estimate that 100,000 more pensioners will fall into relative poverty by 2028/29 due to the Winter Fuel Payment cut. The DWP released the statistic in a letter to a parliamentary select committee, though it noted that the statistic did not take into account the potential for pensioners to take up Pension Credit to regain the Winter Fuel Payment.
Commenting on the news, Mr Carmichael said:
“The Government must step up and do the right thing by reversing the Winter Fuel Payment cut. Ministers’ own figures show that this cut will drive more vulnerable older people into poverty, forcing them to choose between heating and eating. That cannot be the right thing to do as winter starts to bite.
“We all know that the Tories left this Government a dire fiscal inheritance, but that is no excuse to push more pensioners into poverty now. We cannot stand by and leave millions of older people to endure another winter in a cost-of-living crisis. That is why the Liberal Democrats voted against this cut and will continue to fight for it to be reversed.”