Spare pensioners more winter pain, pleads ex-minister

MILLIONS could be denied cold weather cash for a second successive winter as Labour “prolongs the agony” for pensioners, a former minister claims. Baroness Ros Altmann described Labour’s decision to limit the up to £300 winter fuel payments as “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen”.

- By Giles Sheldrick

This year OAPs are unlikely to get all the money they need to stay warm despite the Government claiming it would revisit its decision to axe the universal entitlement.

Baroness Altmann, 69, a respected champion of older people’s issues, poured scorn on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s intention to widen eligibility without stating how.

She said: “I hope ministers will ensure all lower income pensioners won’t suffer another winter of hardship and health harms because they can’t afford to heat their homes.

“We need an urgent decision on how this U-turn will be implemented.”