Pensions have not risen since Labour got into government and cut Winter Fuel Allowance, but Streeting thinks it’s helping poor pensioners afford fuel
As Skwawkbox covered on Friday, Heath Secretary Wes Streeting – a recipient of substantial donations from private interests – told pensioners they should wrap up warm and put the heating on during this weekend’s expected freezing weather, despite Labour knowing that the party’s decision to cut the vital Winter Fuel Allowance (WFA) will kill at least four thousand pensioners every winter.
But Streeting also attempted to minimise the impact of Labour’s lethal cut by claiming that pensioners’ loss is offset by the ‘triple lock’ annual increase in pensions – a policy implemented by the Tory-LibDem coalition, not by Labour – saying:
And of course the triple lock on pensions is guaranteed, so the state pension is higher this winter.
But the state pension increase under the ‘triple lock’ guarantee takes place every April, not during the winter. Labour was only elected – thanks to the far-right Reform ‘party’ – in July, so pensioners have not received it between Labour getting into power and deciding to cut the WFA, and the onset of harsh winter weather.
And the ‘triple lock’ was already factored into Labour’s analysis, performed under Jeremy Corbyn, that showed that ending the triple lock for ten million pensioners, as Labour has done, will kill at least four thousand pensioners and probably far more since the analysis was done long before energy companies used Ukraine as an excuse to start gouging their UK customers.
So Labour knows it is killing pensioners and is lying about the pension increase it claims is reducing the burden its WFA cut has put on them – even as it’s telling pensioners to go ahead and incur higher fuel bills.
Never trust a Tory, whether his rosette is blue or red.
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If only we had the means to take away their supplements showing them whot goes in their mouth and comes out their backside that the tax payers pay even for the bog paper pluss their utilities ouch that would hurt
And the ‘triple lock’ was already factored into Labour’s analysis, performed under Jeremy Corbyn, that showed that ending the triple lock for ten million pensioners, as Labour has done…
Slight correction, Steve. Shouldn’t that have read ‘the Winter Fuel Allowance’ instead? They’ve promised to keep the triple lock at least for April 2025.
From Richard J Murphy:
Has Wes Streeting got the ability to be our Health Secretary?
Thanks for the excellent clip, PW. Had me laughing out loud! A better demolition job on the useless, parasitic type of politician Starmerites represent would be hard to find. (The perfect clip to send to my deluded brother, heh heh!) Bravo, RJM!
From The Health Foundation:
Social care commissions: looking back to move forward
Summary
Adult social care in England desperately needs reform and investment. Amid reports the government is considering a new Royal Commission to establish cross-party consensus on social care reform, we look back at the approaches and proposals of previous similar reviews.
Overall, these policy reviews have made little headway towards tackling the problems in social care. Whether this government’s attempt at reform succeeds where others have failed will depend largely on political will and committing to providing the long-term investment needed.
https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/briefings/social-care-commissions-looking-back-to-move-forward?s=03
Again from Richard J Murphy:
Wes Streeting has no political will or long-term commitment to solve social care
Streeting has indicated three things with his announcement:
–There will be no money for any planned changes, or he would have adopted previous recommendations.
–He has no desire to solve this problem, or he could use the previous reports as the basis for making progress.
–He wants this issue to be left for the next government, post 2029, to solve.
In summary, he has no political will or long-term commitment to solve this problem. That summarises just about everything that needs to be known about Wes Streeting.
Forgot the link:
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/01/03/wes-streeting-has-no-political-will-or-long-term-commitment-to-solve-social-care/
I’m a pensioner who lost £200 winter fuel allowance. My energy company hiked my direct debit by £ 320 in Autumn and another hike is due. That means that I am £ 520 + worse off. The increase to the pension in April will amount to around £ 400, leaving me at least £120 worse off before taking inflation of other prices (food etc.) into account. These people have no idea.
Streeting is knowingly and deliberately lying through his teeth on more than the triple lock.
Simply because however stupid and obtuse anyone can be he must inevitably be aware that the triple lock “increase” will in no way be sufficient to cover the guaranteed, locked in, certain banker massive increase in energy bills arising from the terminally ignorant and stupid policy in the UK and Europe in cutting off access to cheap, cost-effective, guaranteed Eurasian energy for ultra expensive, environmentally destructive and erratic fracked LNG from a predatory USA.
On Wednesday, New Year’s Day, the Ukrainian regime cut off the last supply route of Russian gas to the European Union. This regime, which glorifies Stepan Bandera and other Nazi-era fascists, is, in effect, holding the entire European Union hostage with its Russophobia and relentless corruption.
The Yamel pipeline was shut by Poland in 20222. Nord Stream was deliberately blown up by the US later in the same year. The only remaining link is the Turk Stream which runs under the Black Sea to Turkey. But it mainly supplies Balkan countries that are not in the EU.
On top of that Europe is about to lose another major gas energy supplier – Qutar – as detailed in this recent naked capitalism piece.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/12/284727.html
And this will not only impact on domestic energy prices throughout Europe and the UK but also produce inevitable knock on effects in the price of other goods and services across the whole economy. The price of transport, production, food, everything is going to go through the proverbial roof this coming year as a result of a failed attempt to purloin the resources of the Eurasian Heartland.
Streeting, Starmer, Reeves, Lammy, the whole cabal of useless frauds and liars, cannot be unaware of this reality and are therefore deliberately misleading the country and its populace by both commission and omission.
Being boo’d and jeered at in the street will be the least of the problems coming the way of these charlatans in the near future.
Was reading an article the other day about how we’re screwed and that it’s coming soon. Borrell spoke about the cost of Ukraine. Apparently it’s about €60 billion in cash so far for the EU, but when you count all the costs taken on by countries in the EU (energy costs etc), it is about €700 billion.
Dunno exactly what we’re on the books for, but Boris bet everything that we’d win. Going to be a very, very hard landing
“Dunno exactly what we’re on the books for, but Boris bet everything that we’d win. Going to be a very, very hard landing.”
Ukraine’s debt default back in July/August time provides a big part of the answer to that question.
As detailed in part one of the article you read, NVLA:
https://substack.com/@alexkrainer/p-148160997
Which points to the level of “investment” the UK has put into Project Ukraine and the amount of unpayable debt the Uni-party, on behalf of its oligarch masters, has exposed the country and its people to.
“In addition to providing at least £7.5 billion in military aid (nearly $10 billion), Britain gave another £5 billion ($6.5 billion) to Ukraine in financial support.
Furthermore, Britain has also guaranteed multiple tranches of World Bank loans to Ukraine and many British financial institutions have purchased billions’ worth of Ukraine’s bonds. Others made extensive direct investments there.”
Others, like Blackrock, for example
The average interest rate on these bonds is about 7.54%, suggesting that Ukraine’s annual interest expense was $1.487 billion alone. That’s $1.4 trillion just on interest payments to the creditor oligarch bondholders. If, as suggested, the UK is guaranteeing a lot of that debt, we are all in deep shit.
And on top of that, there is the coming energy price apocalypse courtesy of the same failed policy.
The Russians don’t need to invade Europe. (a) We have nothing they need or want, and (b) what passes for ‘leadership’ in the UK and EU is doing a far more efficient and effective job of collapsing their economies than any armed forces could manage. Why would they waste their own resources when the numpties in charge across the Collective West in Europe and the UK are destroying their countries at the behest of the Washington Blob?
Screeching on sky news this morning reckons keef and jess philips (?) banged up all sorts of child sex cases and rapists, prior to becoming mps.
(Trevor) philips left that totally unchallenged.
Maybe that’s why no labour MPs showed up for the debate on gang rapes at the HoP?
Perhaps a certain poster could it out for us?