Popular TV presenter urges Keir Starmer to apologise for winter fuel allowance cut with millions of pensioners set to lose the annual payment
A popular TV presenter has called on Keir Starmer to apologise for the winter fuel payment cut as millions of pensioners are set to lose the annual payment.
A popular TV presenter has called on Keir Starmer to apologise for the winter fuel payment cut as millions of pensioners are set to lose the annual payment.
Carol Vorderman, the former BBC Radio Wales presenter and Countdown star said she was astonished that this is the first thing the party decided to do after getting into power.
The 63-year-old, who staunchly supported Labour throughout the general election, added that she felt the Party had duped the public to get into power.
I am shocked because, even extracting the fact that many pensioners will be suffering because of it… it is unbelievable that this new Labour government the first thing they do is that?
It is not, I dont believe, what they were voted in to do, it is quite astonishing really, she told Sky News.
Carol Vorderman has taken a swipe at the BBC as she implied their choice to sack her was a sexist move after being dropped from her radio show for her views on the Conservatives
Carol was axed from her role at BBC Radio Wales because she was not prepared to stop venting her strong beliefs on her social media pages
The scrapping of the winter fuel payment was approved by the Commons today amid claims of tears and recriminations.
Some 10 million pensioners will not get the allowance - worth up to £300 - this year after MPs signed off the controversial measure by 348 to 228.
Vorderman went on to claim that she would support reform of the payment, as there was no need for wealthy pensioners to receive the money.
Ill be one of those in two years time. So I wouldnt need the winter fuel allowance payment.
But to go from 12 million to less than two million pensioners receiving it is just way too low.
And Im shocked by it, because they could raise that money in so many other ways.
Just one Labour MP, veteran left-winger Jon Trickett, supported a Tory motion to block the move, and now faces having the whip suspended.
The former Countdown star told The Sunday Times Magazine she was threatened by the BBC for her controversial political tweets
Many rebels seem to have stepped back from the brink after Sir Keir ruthlessly suspended the whip from a group who voted to abolish the two-child benefit cap.
Ministers have been pointing to an expected £460 rise in the state pension next year in a bid to defuse the row.
Official figures typically used to set the increase in April showed earnings going up by 4 per cent.
Sir Keir and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have been highlighting the prospect of a hike to offset the loss of up to £300 from the winter fuel allowance.
Ms Reeves last night told panicking Labour MPs she would not back down – and suggested pensioners could afford to tighten their belts this winter.
The Chancellor said she did not relish the cut, but warned there would be more difficult decisions to come in next months Budget.
Ministers have refused to publish an assessment of the likely impact of the cut, which will save £1.5billion a year.
The triple lock means the state pension rises by the highest out of earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent. For April the earnings figure will almost certainly be the top figure.
