Winter fuel cuts to hit 600,000 disabled pensioners, analysis finds
Winter fuel cuts to impact two million pensioners
- Sir Keir Starmer's policy to restrict winter fuel payments to those earning £35,000 or less will result in approximately two million pensioners missing out on the allowance.
- Around 600,000 disabled pensioners are among those affected, with critics highlighting that the £300 payment cut will disproportionately impact them due to higher living costs associated with disability.
- The government had previously U-turned on an earlier decision to strip winter fuel payments from millions more, now limiting the cuts to those above the £35,000 income threshold.
- Campaign groups like Silver Voices and the Tory shadow pensions secretary have criticised the £35,000 threshold as too low and the system as 'clumsy, complicated and ill-judged'.
- The U-turn on the policy has contributed to an estimated £50bn fiscal challenge for the Chancellor ahead of the upcoming Budget.