Mick Hartley

Has chancellor Rachel Reeves yet put a foot right? From the Telegraph:

Tens of thousands of terminally ill pensioners have lost their winter fuel payments ahead of what is likely to be their last Christmas, campaigners warn.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves sparked furious backlash after stripping the annual payment, worth up to £300, from some ten million pensioners in order to save the Government £1.4bn.

Figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request by charity Marie Curie show an estimated 44,000 retired people in critical condition will lose the allowance.

Winter fuel payments will continue to be paid to those in receipt of pension credit under Labour’s reforms. However, those who claim benefits under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness will not….

Energy costs can double for those with a terminal illness, due to the need to constantly heat homes to provide relief from pain, washing and drying clothes, and to charge and run life-sustaining medical devices.

Sam Royston, executive director for policy and research at Marie Curie, said: “For people who claim benefits under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness, this may very well be their last winter and Christmas. We know that energy costs can increase dramatically after a terminal diagnosis, yet the decision to restrict the winter fuel payment only to people receiving means-tested benefits takes no account of this.

“The festive season is meant to be one of warmth, joy and celebration. No one should have to face their final days worrying about money or whether they can afford to heat their home or even switch on Christmas lights.”

Helen van Bueren, 77, from Derbyshire, diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, is one of those who has lost her winter fuel payment and described the cold as “crippling”.

Ms van Bueren said: “It seeps into your bones and sits there. It consumes you. With each year that passes, I feel myself fading a little more. I’m just over the limit for pension credit so I won’t get my winter fuel allowance anymore and I do wonder if I will see the other side of this winter.”

Critics warned that the NHS, which experienced an acute winter crisis last year as a result of strikes and missed targets, could be overwhelmed by pensioners made ill by the cold.

Campaign groups and charities have warned that thousands more elderly retirees are at risk becoming ill due to Ms Reeves’s decision.