Austerity 2

Unions urge Starmer not to deliver more austerity as TUC Congress heckler tells PM to ‘tax the rich’

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Keir Starmer confirms that he is continuing Tory policies and that he's proud to be a red Tory.
Keir Starmer confirms that he is continuing Tory policies and that he’s proud to be a red Tory.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-urge-starmer-not-to-deliver-more-austerity-tuc-congress-heckler-tells-pm-tax-rich

UNIONS urged Sir Keir Starmer not to deliver more austerity after he told TUC Congress to expect pay and public investment restraint.

National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said the Prime Minister failed to announce a change of course after “decades of division, austerity and underinvestment in public services.

“Instead of setting out a positive vision to rebuild the economy and our society, he served up more of the same,” he added.

“The politics of austerity will only be ended in practice, not in fine words.”

Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Fran Heathcote added: “We’ve had enough of being told about ‘tough decisions.’

“You cannot solve the problems caused by austerity with more austerity.

“That’s why the TUC has voted overwhelmingly for a campaign of pay restoration across the public sector, which will boost living standards and strengthen the economy.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unions-urge-starmer-not-to-deliver-more-austerity-tuc-congress-heckler-tells-pm-tax-rich

Continue ReadingUnions urge Starmer not to deliver more austerity as TUC Congress heckler tells PM to ‘tax the rich’

Chancellor faces down would-be rebels ahead of winter fuel payment vote

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/09/chancellor-faces-down-would-be-rebels-ahead-of-winter-fuel-payment-vote

‘If we show that economic stability is the hallmark of Labour governments, there is no limit to what we can achieve,’ Reeves told Labour MPs. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Rachel Reeves tells Labour MPs that axing allowance for all but poorest pensioners will help plug £22bn hole in finances

The chancellor has faced down would-be rebels in a private meeting of Labour MPs ahead of the crunch vote on the government’s controversial plan to scrap the winter fuel allowance.

Rachel Reeves told a gathering of the parliamentary Labour party that the move was necessary, despite fears about the impact on millions of less-well-off pensioners, as it would help to plug a £22bn gap in the public finances.

She also warned that there would be more difficult decisions to make on the economy, despite dozens of Labour MPs considering abstaining in Tuesday’s vote to cut the £300-a-year payment for all but the poorest pensioners.

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Government insiders ruled out any prospect of the Treasury offering any concession on the policy, despite the depth of concern from figures across the party. Many MPs are worried that elderly constituents just above the threshold will suffer.

Keir Starmer, meanwhile, is set to stick to the same theme by doubling down on the government’s tough economic message in a major speech to the Trades Union Congress, where he will say that “hard graft” is necessary to turn around the public finances.

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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/09/chancellor-faces-down-would-be-rebels-ahead-of-winter-fuel-payment-vote

Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.

The dishonesty of Rachel Reeves

Continue ReadingChancellor faces down would-be rebels ahead of winter fuel payment vote

Cut to winter fuel payment could kill 4,000 people, Labour’s own research suggests

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Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/winter-fuel-payment-cut-labour-deaths-b2609340.html

Analysis published by Labour in 2017 said plans to means test winter fuel payments would be the ‘single biggest attack on pensioners in a generation’

Thousands of pensioners could die if the government proceeds with its plan to cut winter fuel payments for those not on benefits, Labour’s own research suggested.

Analysis published in 2017, when Sir Keir Starmer was in the Shadow Cabinet, warned that Conservative plans to cut the fuel allowance for ten million pensioners would increase excess deaths by 3,850 that winter.

The proposal, put forward by Theresa May’s government, was dubbed the “single biggest attack on pensioners in a generation in our country”.

The report has resurfaced just weeks after Rachel Reeves announced that older people not in receipt of pension credits or other means-tested benefits will no longer receive winter fuel payments from this year onwards.

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/winter-fuel-payment-cut-labour-deaths-b2609340.html

dizzy: I would expect the figure to have increased from 4,000 since energy prices have increased so much since 2017.

The dishonesty of Rachel Reeves

Continue ReadingCut to winter fuel payment could kill 4,000 people, Labour’s own research suggests

Labour refuses to publish impact assessment of winter fuel payment cuts until after MPs have voted

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/winter-fuel-payment-starmer-reeves-b2609520.html

Independent Exclusive: Energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh confirmed her department has assessed the impact the policy change will have on pensioners living in fuel poverty, but said only that it will be published ‘in due course’

The government has assessed the number of people who will be pushed into fuel poverty by its winter fuel payment cuts, but will not publish the figures until after MPs vote on the measure, The Independent can reveal.

Answering a parliamentary question from former Labour frontbencher John McDonnell, energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh confirmed her department has assessed the impact the policy change will have on pensioners living in fuel poverty.

But, asked by Mr McDonnell and The Independent, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero refused to say when the document would be published, only promising that it would be “in due course”.

Her answer suggests that while the department has carried out the analysis, it will not be published until after MPs have voted on the measure. Mr McDonnell said “it is no way to implement policy” and he is “fearful of the impact on those who will be put at serious risk”.

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/winter-fuel-payment-starmer-reeves-b2609520.html

Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.

The dishonesty of Rachel Reeves

Continue ReadingLabour refuses to publish impact assessment of winter fuel payment cuts until after MPs have voted

‘There will be more deaths’: Former Labour MP John McDonnell tells LBC he will not vote to scrap winter fuel benefits

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Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/john-mcdonnell-winter-fuel-payments-cut-benefits-labour

The left-wing MP told Lewis Goodall on LBC that he will not vote for the changes if there is no adjustment before they are put before Parliament.

Mr McDonnell said: “I will vote against it. We’ve had 14 years of austerity I don’t think my community can cope with it anymore.

“My fear is, as a result of this, there will be more deaths.”

On the policy, Mr McDonnell added: “It’s the wrong route to go down – it will disillusion people. This is not what a Labour government should be doing I’m afraid.

“My fear is there may be other austerity measures coming down the track”.

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https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/john-mcdonnell-winter-fuel-payments-cut-benefits-labour

The dishonesty of Rachel Reeves

Continue Reading‘There will be more deaths’: Former Labour MP John McDonnell tells LBC he will not vote to scrap winter fuel benefits