I still don’t understand why Labour is cutting the winter fuel payments back in this stark manner
No problem at all with wealthy pensioners (I’m almost at that age now) who don’t need it not receiving it obviously
But for only those on Pension Credit to receive it .. is wrong
No problem at all with wealthy pensioners (I’m almost at that age now) who don’t need it not receiving it obviously
But for only those on Pension Credit to receive it .. is wrong
Reposted from
Chaminda Jayanetti
NEW: Tens of thousands of pensioners are expected to be driven into poverty by cuts to winter fuel payments, according to forecasts by DWP published today
The figures do not factor in the increased uptake of the pension credit benefit
By me, for the Big Issue www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
The figures do not factor in the increased uptake of the pension credit benefit
By me, for the Big Issue www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
Comments
Carol, can you send them a humane sliding scale of how it should be!
payment. With the full pension being less than £11,500pa this really isn't fair.
In a humane society the choice is clear.
Universal benefits should be universal even if the monarch gets it.
Administering 'means adjusted' benefits probably costs more money than it saves.
Obviously it'd be at an enhanced rate with a few different rules/thresholds but it could definitely work.
People need to apply for Pension Credit if eligible.
What did people do before Gordon Brown introduced it?
Let everyone have it
Then tax the fuck out of the wealthy who didn't actually need it and recover it on the back end.
Means testing should be outlawed as the cruel scam it is
In NL workplace pensions are and have been compulsory for a long time, everyone has them, you can't opt out, and you can't take out lump sums. I've had them for over 40 years, even when self employed.
Easily administered and no-one could complain if they were just over the threshold.
HMRC has no difficulty working out my tax liability from both state and occupational pension, why can't they pay me the WFP and adjust my tax code to claw it back? Then it could reach everyone who needs it.
I cannot get over the new living wage coming (which I agree with) and yet the pensioners are left to live in poverty.
You cannot see what all the pensioners earn nor indeed look in their bank accounts at savings
So many problems would be solved by just deciding a universal minimum, administered by HMRC?
This will cause real hardship.
It's something I really want the government to change their mind about.
My elderly patients will suffer because of this.
Keir Starmer
Rachel Reeves
Doing away with the "universal" element for such things just gives some "better off" people an excuse to argue "Why should I have to pay for such and such when I don't benefit myself?"
But agree, bar far too low.
People need to apply for Pension Credit if eligible.
What did people do before Gordon Brown introduced it?
My problem is that the winter fuel should not exist. The main problem is companies using benefits and tax loopholes to ensure their shareholders get paid
55p or 82p per day is not going to "push you into poverty": if it matters that much, you're already there.
I understand, it's because they are Tories in Labour clothing. P. S what do you think about the recent ICC ruling?
The same thing goes with child benefit. It's just a symptom of how the whole system is broken. Everything needs to be looked at again. No easy feat to rebuild a system that doesn't work. 😥
If this little will mean they cannot survive, how did they survive last year when bills were so much higher?
Alas, after a few weeks of lethargically pretending to care, then realising they couldn't pull it off, the Tories picked this hill:
https://bsky.app/profile/scottygb.bsky.social/post/3lb7s6ofebs2x
Even if they raised the threshold then maybe freeze rate if required.
Not thought through enough ?
People need to apply for Pension Credit if eligible.
What did people do before Gordon Brown introduced it?
The reaction to this, from Labour voters especially, has been Daily Mail levels of sensationalist nonsense.
Genuine question 😁
They would happily throw the working class to the wolves.
I don't understand how you never saw this coming.
They will only be affected if they have more than £1m -£3m 🤷🏼♀️ in inheritance!
It needs to be means tested. Not aged based.
It's because @keirstarmeruk.bsky.social is a self confessed, right wing, neoliberal, Tory ****. He's also a bribe taking, apartheid supporting, Genocide enabler.
So don't do it, come up with a better plan.
One in a row.
I agree with the objective but not the method .
The slow realisation of the 'oh but when they are elected they'll shift left' starting to see it was never going to happen.
Setting the bar anywhere other than the existing Pension Credit threshold = new assessment system.
That itself is costly, probably more so than paying everyone based on age.
A better idea would be to encourage applications for PC and award the WFP to all who fail to qualify by up to, for example, £100. That ‘just’ takes a computer adjustment albeit on an 40 year old system
Argyll & Bute council have temperature cards available. I use one to check that the temperature is at last 12c, whereas someone who is vulnerable should be at 18c+
What temp do you set?
I thought I was on X for a minute!
You're not Liz Kendall DWP are you?
You may get other messages from those of us confused using both platforms!
#NeverTrustATory no matter what colour they choose to hide behind
This is the sort of dangerous ideology which weakens society
Means test, yes, but don't cut off support until every pensioner that is entitled to support has it
It's easy to announce a policy, difficult to implement it. They've taken the easy option, it's not good at all
Means testing is expensive
And letting govt have access to pensioners bank accounts is draconian
I only saw it once during my time at the DWP, but I couldn’t process a claim because a woman’s husband refused to disclose his finances.
https://bsky.app/profile/mindfulmusings.bsky.social/post/3lbc7l65pcs2z
There has to be a better way to determine entitlement.
A single person needs £15K income for a basic retirement. This allowance is a drop in the ocean.
We both know it's the elephant in the room for the UK's finances, and that Labour don't have the courage to even question it.
However it’s not just too low for pensioners , many of the lowest paid and children of poor families on same money get nothing
Wouldn’t it be better to lobby gov to cut costs of fuel and profits made ?
Funding is aimed at anyone who’s vulnerable or can't pay for essentials. You don't have to be on benefits to get help from your local council.
A better way would be to pay it to any pensioner that doesn't pay income tax. It could then be controlled by changes to personal allowance.