Leading up to the General Election, Rishi Sunak said a Labour Government would cause ‘irreversible damage’ within 100 days and they ‘cannot be trusted’. It is now 77 days since the Election and I simply can’t understand why Labour have decided to pick a battle with defenceless pensioners.
On Tuesday last week, we saw Parliament voting on a motion regarding the Winter Fuel Payment. Both local Labour MPs in Calderdale, Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) and Kate Dearden (Halifax) supported the Government. In my last Article, I urged the Government to reconsider this cruel decision. Numerous unions have also called on the Government to reverse the decision. Shockingly Labour’s own analysis from 2017 shows that 4000 pensioners could potentially lose their lives if the Payment is scrapped. Labour in opposition had previously promised to freeze energy bills and preserve the Winter Fuel Payment.
At the next full Council meeting on September 26th, the Conservative Group on Calderdale Council has submitted a motion calling on the Government to review the criteria for payment by extending eligibility and to ensure that vulnerable pensioners are protected from fuel poverty.
Labour’s false justification for these savings is found in their claim to have ‘inherited the worst set of circumstances since the second world war.’ Readers only need to look how Labour left the country in 1979 and 2010 to see through Labour’s fabrication. In 2010, unemployment was 8%, we had the lowest economic growth in the G7, inflation was 3.4% and the deficit was 10.3% of GDP, whilst in 2024, unemployment is 4.4%, we are the fastest growing economy in the G7, inflation is at 2% and the deficit is 4.4% of GDP.
Even worse, Labour asserts that the £1.5bn cut from the Winter Fuel Payment is necessary to stop a run on the pound. If this was really the case, then why has the Government offered inflation-busting pay rises to the tune of at least £9bn. This includes a £10,000 pay rise for train drivers who on average will earn £75,000 per year. Moreover, the Government is spending £8bn on setting-up and operating on GB Energy.
In Calderdale, over the last 14 years Labour have blamed the Conservative Government for all the local failures. But Labour-run Calderdale Council has increased council tax every year; increased parking charges; failed to deliver projects such as the Elland Railway Station and the North Bridge Leisure Centre; and last year the Planning Department was threatened with Special Measures. Real Leadership is about taking responsibility. Labour now runs the Government, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Calderdale Council - there are no more scapegoats.
Finally, I should stress that times remain difficult. We have unprecedented waiting lists in the NHS and the prices of everyday essentials have skyrocketed. Life is genuinely harder for most people. It is also fair to point out many failures of the last Government.
But we did protect Winter Fuel Payments and provide financial support for people throughout the pandemic with the furlough scheme and during the cost-of-living crisis by capping energy bills at enormous cost to the country.
