Ex-Health Minister: Tory winter fuel cuts ‘ may cost 10,000 lives’
THERESA MAY came under fresh pressure over her plans to cut winter fuel payments for the elderly last night – amid claims that nearly 10,000 pensioners could die every year as a result.
Former Health Minister Norman Lamb said the ‘stark truth’ was that Tory plans to strip the £300 a year payments from millions of people could lead to fatalities next winter.
Tory Election candidates have complained that the policy to means-test the payments is ‘bombing’ on the doorstep, particularly among older, wealthier voters who are the bedrock of the party’s support.
Scottish pensioners will escape the cuts because it is colder north of the border.
Pensioners currently receive between £100 and £300 a year to help meet heating bills, depending on their circumstances. The Tory manifesto says that with meanstesting, money will go only to the poorest old people.
The Government has not explained how the test will be applied, but Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green has said it will save £2 billion out of the total £2.5 billion cost – meaning that eight out of ten pensioners will lose it.
Mr Lamb, now the Lib Dems’ health spokesman, said that according to Age UK, the payment saves the lives of 12,000 OAPs every year – almost 10,000 of whom could now be at risk.
‘The stark truth is more pensioners will be at risk of dying in winter because they can’t afford to heat their homes.
‘This is what the cold and heartless Theresa May is proposing,’ Mr Lamb said. ‘Her plans would force millions of struggling pensioners to go back to the days of choosing between heating and eating. It risks undoing the significant progress we’ve made in reducing winter death rates among the elderly in recent years.’
Mrs May’s supporters say it is ridiculous to keep the payment as a universal benefit when 1.7 million pensioners live in households with assets of £1 million or more. Some richer recipients admit spending the cash on holidays and wine.
Last night a Conservative source said: ‘We will consult widely on the appropriate level at which to set the means test for winter fuel payments – precisely to avoid unintended consequences.’