Winter Fuel Payment

Sorcha Eastwood Excerpts

Tuesday 10th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Liberal Democrats welcome the opportunity for this debate. We will continue to call on the Government to change course on their planned cut to winter fuel payments. We know the Government have inherited a mess, and we know that at the core of that mess is a legacy of reckless economic mismanagement by the previous Conservative Government.

However, that cannot be allowed to serve as a cover for measures that cause suffering for the most vulnerable in our society. Earlier this afternoon, Liberal Democrats supported the prayer motion to annul the social fund winter fuel payment regulation. Stripping support from many of the poorest pensioners, just when energy bills are set to rise again this winter, is the wrong thing to do, and we have tabled our own early-day motion to reject these plans. It should be noted that the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the other place has said that it is

“unconvinced by the reasons given for the urgency attached to laying these Regulations and particularly concerned that this precludes appropriate scrutiny”.

We are supportive of this motion and particularly of the point that there should have been greater scrutiny of the Government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments.

It is well established that there are strong links between living in a cold home and an increase in the risk of serious illness for vulnerable people and those with disabilities.

[Sorcha Eastwood (Lagan Valley) (Alliance)]

I am extremely disappointed by the lack of creativity in this Government. I agree entirely with the hon. Lady that there is a legacy of unfunded promises, but it is not for my constituents in Lagan Valley to bear the burden. Does she agree that they do not have broad shoulders?

[Sarah Olney]

I thank the hon. Member for her intervention and for stating so passionately the case that we on the Liberal Democrat Benches are making in this debate. The Government should have done far more to understand the likely consequences of restricting eligibility for the winter fuel payment, and how that would translate into increased burdens on the national health service.

I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues have listened to our constituents and heard from countless pensioners who are worried about how they will afford their energy bills this winter. Since these cuts have been announced, I have been inundated with local people expressing their disappointment at this decision. That is why the Liberal Democrats have tabled early-day motion 121, calling on the Government to withdraw these plans, and it is why we voted in favour of the prayer motion earlier today. We believe that it is simply wrong to remove winter fuel payments from millions of struggling pensioners.