Winter fuel payment cut could kill 4,000 people, Labour research suggests
The IndependentSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Thousands of pensioners could die if the government proceeds with its plan to cut winter fuel payments for those not on benefits, Labour’s own research suggested. For use in UK, Ireland or Benelux countries only BBC handout photo of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer The report has resurfaced just weeks after Rachel Reeves announced that older people not in receipt of pension credits or other means-tested benefits will no longer receive winter fuel payments from this year onwards. “Half of the almost 10,000 decrease in so-called ‘excess winter deaths’ – the rise in mortality that occurs each winter – between 2000 and 2012 was due to the introduction of the winter fuel allowance.” Rachel Reeves announced that older people not in receipt of pension credits or other means tested benefits will no longer receive winter fuel payments from this year onwards Responding to the report, Labour MP Rachael Maskell told the Daily Mail: “My concern is that an NHS under extreme pressure will experience even more pressure if people who are fuel-poor are ending up there because they can’t heat their homes. Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said she was “not surprised” at the reaction to the government’s decision to means test winter fuel payments.