RACHEL Reeves has warned Labour MPs there will be more difficult cuts to come as she pleaded with them not to rebel against her ending the universal Winter Fuel Payment.
The Chancellor met with her party’s MPs in Westminster on Monday evening, ahead of a crunch vote on the issue in the Commons on Tuesday. The BBC reported that all Scottish Labour MPs will back Reeves, ignoring calls to take a stand from SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.
Reeves – who was arguing for the Winter Fuel Payment to be cut back as long as a decade ago – has repeatedly claimed her decision to do so was forced by the economic legacy left by the Tories.
She hammered this point home on Monday as she spoke to her party’s MPs, in a speech which Westminster media reported went down well with her Labour colleagues.
In comments released publicly, Reeves said she was “not immune” to concerns over plans to dramatically scale back the payment.
“I understand the decision that this Government have made on winter fuel is a difficult decision,” she said. “I’m not immune to the arguments that many in this room have made. We considered those when the decision was made.”
However, Reeves argued that the rise by £900 of the new state pension compared to a year ago means that pensioners have £900 pounds more in their pockets this year.
“Tomorrow, we get data for earnings growth, which will inform the increase in the pension next year. We are protecting the triple lock, not just for this year, but for the duration of this Parliament,” she said.
However, Reeves warned Labour MPs there would be “more difficult decisions to come”, raising the spectre of further cuts – on top of the billions in savings she has already asked Government departments to make.
Reeves said: “I don’t say that because I relish it. I don’t, but it is a reflection of the inheritance that we face.
“So, when members are looking at where to apportion blame, when pensioners are looking where to apportion blame, I tell you where the blame lies.
“It lies with the Conservatives and the reckless decisions that they made.”
Some 10 million pensioners across the UK will not receive the Winter Fuel Payment if the vote to make it means-tested passes Westminster.
However, former prime minister David Cameron has criticised the UK Government’s “misguided attack” on the Winter Fuel Payments and argued it should rethink to save “the shame and embarrassment”.
The Conservative peer suggested the eligibility criteria for receiving the allowance should be raised using the tax system to exclude more wealthy pensioners, an idea which has also been floated by policy experts.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Cameron said: “As someone who made a promise to Britain’s pensioners to keep the winter fuel payment, and kept that for six years as prime minister, may I make a gentle suggestion to the Government?
“Instead of this misguided attack on the winter fuel payment, why not simply say that pensioners who are higher-rate or additional-rate taxpayers do not receive it?
“You may only raise 10% of the money but you would save 90% of the shame and embarrassment of the current position.”
