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Martin Lewis has slammed Labour over changes to winter fuel payments in a tense interview with cabinet minister Lisa Nandy. The money expert criticised the government over the details of the policy, later apologising on Twitter / X for his “slightly bad language”.
The government announced in late July that the winter fuel payment would be means-tested for the first time from this year, rather than given to all pensioners. The cold weather benefit is now tied to Pension Credit, which all pensioners who receive under a certain income can apply for.
During the interview, Mr Lewis told Ms Nandy that “there are systems that could be put in place” to improve the policy, before he asked her: “why are you defending this?”
Older persons’ charity Age UK estimates that around two million vulnerable pensioners will miss out on the payment despite being in need of it. They say that 800,000 of these are people who are eligible for pension credit but not receiving it due to a lack of awareness, complexity or stigma.
To tackle this, Labour has launched a pension credit awareness drive to improve the uptake of the benefit. The number of applications has subsequently increased by around 115 per cent, but Mr Lewis claimed this was not enough.
During his exchange with Ms Nandy, the money expert asked why the poorest pensioners aren’t being written letters encouraging them to apply – although the Labour minister responded that several local authorities have opted to do so.
Mr Lewis later said that, despite Labour’s efforts to improve the uptake, ministers “have to accept” that at least half a million pensioners will miss out on the payment.
Responding to the criticism, Ms Nandy said it was the inherited shortfall in public spending that forced Labour to make the “difficult decision” but also that the party was working to “make sure that there isn’t a pensioner who is left out or left behind”.
“We are listening, and we are determined to get this right,” she added.
