‘Starmer should pay,’ says pensioner after winter fuel cuts

Labour

Bradford resident Caroline spoke to Socialist Worker about the dangerous effects of Labor slashing winter fuel payments.

Winter fuel protest in Leeds last November (Photo: X/@GeorgeArthur5)

Millions of pensioners are afraid to turn on the heating as freezing temperatures hit the north of England. Caroline is a retiree living in Bradford, where temperatures dropped to -12 degrees Celsius last Thursday.

Caroline is one of 10 million pensioners who have had their winter fuel payments snatched away by Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Caroline spoke to Socialist Worker last September when parliament approved the winter fuel cut. Then she was afraid of what it would mean for her and millions of other retirees. She was right to be worried.

Months after the cuts, Caroline told Socialist Worker: “I had to turn on the heating. I just thought I couldn’t take it anymore, not once the temperature dropped below zero. I was worried that the building would deteriorate if it got too cold. I live in an old house, with outside pipes. It’s really cold now and there’s no way I can afford to let them freeze, so I run some hot water through them.

“Turning on the heat means I will be faced with much higher bills than I had budgeted for. Obviously there will be consequences for me in the future.

“I’m not the only one that many people have to turn on the heating for health reasons, to protect their properties; They have no choice but to heat their homes. “We all feel it.”

In 2023, around 64,500 Bradford pensioners were eligible for the £300 winter fuel payment. After Starmer’s cut, only around 12,500 will be able to claim it, a drop of more than 80 per cent.

As Caroline says: “I’m not the only one who has had to make this difficult decision. When it’s cold, we have to stay alive. And we have another price increase on the way. The whole situation is becoming unsustainable. We need to bring energy companies back under public control and we need a windfall profits tax to provide benefits to people who receive less than living wages.

“We need immediate help from government.

“People flood and that’s terrible, but cold weather is a silent killer. When it decided to withdraw the winter fuel payment, the government knew it would lead to an increase in deaths. People will suffer from hypothermia, older people whose bodies cannot adapt to different temperatures and younger people with mobility problems, and hypothermia can lead to heart attacks.

“The government knew that the consequences of higher bills and suspending winter fuel payments will be more deaths. And this is happening while emergency rooms and hospitals are already full due to the flu. We cannot rely on getting help if we need it.

“Clearly the government has decided that it is more important to plug the hole in the economy by ripping off pensioners than by taxing the rich.

“We have to trust in our own self-organization and in the union movement fight for the restoration of winter fuel payments. We need urgent help for all pensioners who have lost their winter fuel pensions.

“Communities here also fight child poverty and keep their homes warm for children.

“It’s not just retirees who suffer: people with children have to pay higher bills. Schools are closed due to ice and snow and this puts more pressure on people to heat their homes throughout the day.

“Starmer should pay up or leave; If you can’t stand the cold, get out of the kitchen.

“The Labor government has been terrible. In the future there will be people who will be forced to sell their homes because they cannot afford to maintain them.

“Many of us have worried a lot about turning on the heat, but that shouldn’t be a big decision. Heating is a human right. And for the homeless it is even worse. Bradford is the city of culture, but right now it is a freezing city where people are afraid to heat their homes.

“We don’t want palaces, just comfortable and safe places to live.”