The Government has been accused of “declaring war on pensioners” over its plans to slash winter fuel payments and freeze income tax thresholds – which would drag more than a million people into paying tax on their state pension.
Speaking to i, they expressed their outrage at the “ageist” proposals, and claimed they were being forced into frugal “post-war” lifestyles.
Rachel Reeves’s commitment to cutting fuel payments for all but the poorest pensioners – depriving 10 million of the allowance – has been unwavering, despite calls by Labour members and unions to ditch the policy.
Meanhile, in her first Budget, the Chancellor is reportedly set to freeze income tax thresholds.
This could raise billions of pounds for the Treasury, but also drag up to 1.5 million pensioners into paying higher tax.
Jennie Leggatt, 74, from Bromley, south-east London, told i that she suffers from a degenerative lung condition that gets worse when she breathes cold air.
“I’ve got a very rare lung condition called hypersensitivity pneumonitis. It’s autoimmune and it does what it says: it mimics pneumonia,” she said.
“It doesn’t respond to antibiotics and it is the thing that will probably kill me, because it [increasingly] causes, each time I have a flare-up, a degeneration in my lungs and my lung function.
“All we do for that condition is manage it. However, crucial to managing that illness, which is pretty serious and has put me in the hospital on a number of occasions, is breathing in warm air and not breathing in cold air.”
Ms Leggatt said she “worked from the age of 16, even when I was at college, even when I had my children, and I got a full pension”.
Being in receipt of a full state pension in addition to a small work-related pension, she is not entitled to winter fuel allowance, despite the crucial role heating her home plays in managing her potentially life-threatening condition.
“I am living in a constant state of fear,” she said. “I feel that this Government is at war with pensioners. They’ve declared war on the middle-band pensioners.”
Meg McDonald, 82, from west London, is in receipt of a state pension, alongside a teacher’s pension, meaning that she will not be eligible for winter fuel allowance this year.
Ms McDonald was born during the Second World War. She told i that the frugal lifestyle she has been forced to live on her pension reminds her of “living in war conditions”.
She added: “I live in a basement flat which has no central heating, it has no insulation at the windows and it’s very cold. Because the flat is so cold, I only bathe about once a week, or have very few showers. You also can’t do lots of cooking when you’re in fuel poverty, which I am.
“It’s like living in war conditions. It’s like we’re in the war and after the war. It was so cold and there wasn’t any fuel around.
“I just think, ‘We did it when we were kids, we know what to do,’ but it’s not good for us. We need to have our homes heated in order to prevent us from getting ill.”
She added that her financial difficulties make it “difficult to go out and socialise”, leading to a sense of isolation. “You do get lonely. You get quite isolated and lonely, because you really do want someone to visit, but when you do it is too expensive,” she said.
Ms McDonald, who has been a Labour voter all her life, said she voted for the party at the general election because she “thought it was at least going to look after the working classes, the poor and the vulnerable. Instead, the Labour Government is attacking older people who have worked all their lives.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous because everybody should have a decent state pension so we don’t have to have pension credit and winter fuel payments.
“My grandfather and uncles went to prison for their trade union activities. I have voted Labour all my life. Labour, since I was a child. Now, I am never going to vote Labour again.”
Jan Shortt, 79, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, said frozen income tax thresholds will force her to pay tax on her state pension next year – something she has not done since she retired more than a decade ago.
“With the increase in the state pension next year, I will be paying income tax at some point during 2025 and I haven’t paid income tax since I retired 14 years ago,” Mr Shortt said.
“It’s a nasty way of getting more tax or getting people to pay tax who have never paid it before.
“What is the reason for targeting older people first and foremost? I can answer you that: this country, this Government and the government before it are ageist. They misrepresent older people. They don’t give us any value or worth for what we do.
“Give some respect to a generation of people who have work, paid and still contribute to society in their silent ways, such as through unpaid care and volunteering.”
Ms Shortt urged the Government to ditch the winter fuel payment cut this year and raise the basic income tax threshold from its current rate of £12,570 to £15,000. This would stop most pensioners from having to pay tax on their state pension.
“It’s not all about us. It’s for us today, but also for tomorrow’s pensioners. It’s for generations of pensioners to come,” he told i.
Last week, the Social Security Advisory Committee, which scrutinises government welfare policies, condemned ministers’ failure to carry out a full assessment of the impact of the winter fuel cut on poor households and the disabled.
The watchdog cast doubt on whether the policy can save the Treasury £1.5bn a year, if more pensioners are being encouraged to sign up for pension credit and qualify for the allowance.
The committee added that extra staff being recruited by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to process additional pension credit claims will need months of training. This could lead to potential delays in paying the allowance to pensioners this winter.
Ms Reeves confirmed earlier this month that the state pension will rise by around £450 next year.
The Chancellor is set to announce the exact level of the state pension, determined by the “triple lock” mechanism, at the Budget. However, she insisted that the increase would more than compensate for the loss of the winter fuel payment – worth £200-£300 a year – suffered by most pensioners.
Under the triple lock, each year the state pension rises by whichever is highest out of inflation, average earnings growth and 2.5 per cent.
Next year it is set to be determined by wage growth, which is running at 4 per cent, meaning that the state pension will outstrip inflation.
Jonathan Bean, spokesperson for Fuel Poverty Action, said: “Spending the winter in the cold, damp and dark is a miserable existence that no one should have to suffer.
“Everyone deserves the basic energy they need for heating, eating, and light. Without urgent action, millions will be plunged into energy starvation this winter. The Government should reverse the reckless cuts to pensioner winter heating, which will lead to thousands of avoidable deaths, as their own figures show. If they fail to act, pensioners and their families will not forget.
“We need to see urgent action in this Budget. They should remove cruel standing charges for energy, which see us dish out hundreds before we can purchase any energy at all.
“They should close loopholes in windfall taxes. And they should cut energy firm subsidies, and use the money to introduce a guarantee of essential energy to cover the basics, so no one is left in the cold over winter.”
Dennis Reed, director at Silver Voices, a charity for senior citizens, said: “Over 140,000 people have signed our petition calling for a Budget which rights the wrongs of the cruel decision to axe the winter fuel payment for 10 million older people. This decision is wildly unpopular because of the devastating impact it will have on the health of so many senior citizens.
“Silver Voices is calling for all those pensioners with modest incomes to have their winter fuel payment protected. Our suggestion is that the eligibility cut-off should be at the level of the higher rate of tax, rather than the abysmally low pension credit level.
“We also want the Chancellor to recognise that unless she takes action to raise the lower tax threshold, by the end of this Parliament some of those on the basic state pension will start paying tax, even though they have no other income.
“This undermines the whole basis of the universal state pension.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners – with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,700 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.
“Anyone who makes a successful claim for pension credit and meets the winter fuel payment eligibility criteria will receive their payment, and we are deploying additional staff to process the expected increase in claims.
“Over a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, and our drive to boost pension credit take up has already seen a 152 per cent increase in claims.
“Many others will also benefit from the £150 warm home discount to help with energy bills over winter, while our extension of the household support fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.”