John Milne to vote against Winter Fuel Allowance cut

Horsham’s MP John Milne has announced he will be voting against the Government’s planned cut to the Winter Fuel Allowance.

It comes as a new poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed the full impact of the government’s plans. Staggeringly, over half of UK pensioners polled said they would have to heat their homes less this winter, while 4 in 10 will look to cut back on other day-to-day needs. That includes food with 1 in 5 pensioners saying they will have to eat less to make up the difference.

In Horsham over 18,500 pensioners are at risk of losing the £300 payment, which pensioners use to help with heating bills in the cold winter months. Research from the charity Age UK reveals that two million will find paying their energy bills a real stretch.

Liberal Democrats called for the right to vote on this issue and will now take this opportunity to oppose the plans.

Commenting, John Milne MP said: 

“Along with my Liberal Democrats I will be voting against the government’s cut to winter fuel payments.

“This will impact on pensioners earning as little as £13,000 a year, not just the better off. There was no warning of this in Labour’s manifesto. Frankly it looks like an announcement made in haste, but which they won’t withdraw for fear of looking weak. You can see that even many Labour MPs are deeply uncomfortable with this proposal.

“So many pensioners have contacted me with their concerns. The money it saves won’t touch the sides of the black hole in the government’s finances, but it will certainly cause great hardship for pensioners.”