Wycombe MP challenged to ‘put country before Party’ and halt proposed Winter Fuel Allowance cut
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Buckinghamshire Council voted overwhelmingly to oppose the withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Allowance asking Bucks MPs to call on the Government to reverse the decision.
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Hide AdMore than 95,000 pensioners in Buckinghamshire will be affected by the controversial decision, which was not in the Labour Manifesto.
As Minister for Pensions, newly elected Labour MP Emma Reynolds, is directly responsible for the financial welfare of pensioners.
Buckinghamshire Council Conservative Leader, Martin Tett, said: "Will she join us in putting country before Party? Whilst some pensioners can afford their energy costs without the Allowance, many of the most vulnerable in Bucks cannot. Labour’s own analysis shows that lives are at risk.
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Hide Ad“There needs to be a well thought through policy, not this rushed ‘penny pinching’ at the expense of pensioners. Emma Reynolds is in a unique position ahead of the Budget to persuade the Chancellor to change tack and reinstate the Winter Fuel Allowance so that the vulnerable and those with disabilities can both ‘eat and heat.’
"The residents of Buckinghamshire will be waiting for her to do the right thing.”
Joy Morrissey, Conservative MP for Beaconsfield, Marlow and the South Bucks Villages, supported the council leader. He said: “People are rightly struggling to understand the political choice the Government is making to put pensioners at risk.
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Hide Ad"It can find £11bn to fund climate change initiatives for other countries, £8bn to set up an energy company that won’t generate any energy and cave in to the unions to pay train drivers an extra 15% with nothing in return.
"Yet it can’t find £1.4bn to keep pensioners warm this winter. This choice – and it is a choice – will put lives at risk this winter.”