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#pensioners

1 post1 participant0 posts today

While the reduction of eligibility for winter fuel payments (WFP) may have saved *some* money, with Age UK's figures suggesting up to 1m elderly people are going without meals to pay their energy bills, we can but expect quite a few of them to end up in the hands of the NHS.... if they do, it won't be long before the savings garnered by not limitation on WFP will be outweighed by increased costs to the NHS.

May well end up being a false economy...

#health #pensioners
theguardian.com/politics/2024/

The Guardian · One million elderly people skipping meals amid winter fuel benefit crisisBy Michael Savage

So Liz Kendall seems to be siding with backbenchers against the Starmer/Reeves position on the cut in winter fuel payments, with an official estimate that up to 100,000 pensioners could be pushed into poverty over the next few years by the change....

Given that Scottish Labour has also made reversing the policy in Scotland one of its signature policies in the upcoming Holyrood election, might Starmer be considering a (welcome) UTurn?

Extract from a story in yesterday's Morning Star (sorry I can't do a link)

A .... grassroots movement has the potential to become a political party, the Merseyside Pensioners Association (MPA) heard as it launched its new manifesto in Liverpool on Thursday.

MPA vice-chairwoman Mary Whitby said: “We have been really one of the only voices fighting for [the NHS], outside of doctors.”
Waiting lists being blamed on an ageing population has left pensioners “scapegoated,” she said.
“The population that built the NHS, who worked in it and benefited from it, are now being told that we’re the ones who are causing this manufactured crisis, the crisis is created by restructuring the NHS on the American model.”

Report by By Elizabeth Short elizabethshort@peoples-press.com · Nov 9, 2024

The recent cuts to the winter fuel payment are causing outrage among UK pensioners. Approximately 780,000 retirees will lose this vital support due to new means-testing measures. Many are expressing fears about how they will cope with rising heating costs this winter. ❄️💔 #WinterFuel #Pensioners #UKPolitics Read more here:

🔗 theguardian.com/society/2024/s

This is so sad

The Guardian · Winter fuel: 780,000 UK pensioners entitled to payment will lose itBy Donna Ferguson

Starmer’s Bank #Spying Plan

#Starmergeddon

Starmer’s bank spying are alarmingly similar to powers Labour fought a few months ago

Govt already has strong powers to investigate bank accounts

Forcing #banks to #spy without suspicion means millions of disabled, #pensioners & carers will be spied on & all citizen's accounts likely monitored without cause

Another insult to #pensioners, attack on poorest & assault on presumption of innocence

bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/bankspy

Yesterday (I think) I followed a link I was interested in (from I don't remember who) on here & it took me to the link below. The article makes good points. Goodness, does this news media's readers understand words such as kompromat (from the Russian компрома? We had to look it up!😂
thenational.scot/politics/2458
#Labour #AndrewTickell #TheNational #Scotland #LaboutMPs #pensioners #freezing #politics #RachelReeves #FuelPoverty #Starmer #hypothermia #dying #NHS #PensionCredit #winterfuelpayment

The National · Labour MPs ditched universalism at the first opportunityBy Andrew Tickell

After the government was forced to reveal that 71% of pensioners with disabilities will lose the winter fuel allowance, groups representing disabled people are demanding urgent meetings with ministers.

The internal DWP analysis also suggested that eight out of 10 over-80s would lose their allowance.
These are also the people still on the old, lower state pension of £169 per week.

#Disability #Pensioners #LabourAusterity #UKPolitics #WinterFuelAllowance

theguardian.com/society/2024/s

The Guardian · Charities demand to meet UK ministers as 1.6m disabled OAPs set to lose winter fuel paymentsBy Toby Helm