Winter fuel allowance cuts could reduce pensioner poverty by raising benefit take-up, says minister – UK politics live | Politics

In interviews right now Keir Starmer has for the primary time given an in depth clarification as to why he selected to just accept an lodging donation value £20,000 across the time of the final election. (See 9.49am.)

But when he anticipated the opposition to just accept his clarification and let go of the story, he’ll be upset. The Conservative celebration has simply issued a recent assault on Starmer over this, within the type of an announcement from Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow enterprise secretary. He mentioned:

This row isn’t in regards to the preferential therapy he has given his little one throughout their training, while taxing the education of 1000’s of others; neither is it about him and his spouse being lavished with designer garments while pensioners face the selection between heating and consuming this winter.

That is about Keir Starmer, and his prime workforce, considering the foundations don’t apply to them. They’ve grow to be completely hooked on luxurious clothes, holidays and companies supplied by their mega donor while anticipating everybody else to tighten their belt. Why does he all the time assume he’s a particular case?

Labour promised to be a authorities of service however all they’ve supplied is a authorities of self-service.

Based on polling by YouGov, 80% of Britons don’t assume politicians must be allowed to just accept presents like garments or live performance tickets.

That determine consists of 29% of people that assume that it was acceptable for politicians like Keir Starmer to have accepted donations like this, as a result of that was throughout the guidelines, however that the foundations must be modified to cease this; and 51% who mentioned accepting presents must be banned, and that even understanding the foundations allowed it, it was flawed for the politicians who did settle for presents to take action.

Starmer urges Britons in Lebanon to depart instantly

Rowena Mason

Keir Starmer has arrived on the UN common meeting the place he may have varied conferences on the Center East and Ukraine, earlier than making a speech later.

Requested for his message to Britons in Lebanon, he mentioned they need to not wait to be evacuated at a later date and may “depart and depart instantly” through industrial flights.

He mentioned:

I’m very apprehensive in regards to the escalation. I’m calling for all events to step again from the brink, to de-escalate. We want a ceasefire so this may be sorted out diplomatically.

However I’ve a vital message for British nationals in Lebanon which is: the time to depart is now.

The contingency plans are being ramped up however don’t watch for these, there are nonetheless industrial flights. It’s crucial that they hear my message, which is to depart and to depart instantly.

Michael Gove, the previous cupboard minister and one of many leaders of the Vote Go away Brexit marketing campaign, has been named as the brand new editor of the Spectator journal, weeks after the GB Information backer Sir Paul Marshall completed a £100m takeover of the politically right-leaning magazine, Mark Sweney studies.

Stephen Timms, a welfare minister, has mentioned that over time the winter gas cost cuts may truly scale back pensioner poverty, as a result of it’s encouraging pensioners to say pension credit score.

Talking an an interview with Radio 4’s World at One, broadcast after Labour delegates voted for a movement saying the lower must be reversed, Timms, the minister for social safety and incapacity, mentioned:

The chancellor has made choices which have to be made to kind out the very critical issues within the authorities funds which we’ve been left with.

And I’m hoping that, over time, this measure will truly scale back pensioner poverty by growing the take-up of pension credit score.

We have now seen fairly a giant increase within the variety of individuals making use of for pension credit score over the previous few weeks, and I feel that’s more likely to proceed.

The one pensioners who will proceed to get the winter gas cost, which could be value as much as £300 per family, are pensioners on pension credit score, a profit paid to these with the bottom incomes.

Based on the most recent authorities figures, solely 63% of pensioners who’re eligible for pension credit score declare it. The federal government mentioned earlier this month up to 880,000 pensioners could be missing out, and it has launched a marketing campaign to encourage them to say. Three weeks in the past the federal government mentioned applications were up 115%.

However a DWP equality impact assessment printed on 13 September mentioned that the division anticipated take-up to rise by simply 5 share factors. It mentioned:

Out of the full c.10m who will lose out within the 1st yr of the coverage, we estimate that round 880k of those might be pensioners who could be entitled to pension credit score in the event that they claimed it, however haven’t executed so. The modelling underpinning the coverage costing assumes a 5 share level “loss aversion” improve in PC take-up (from 63% to 68%), lowering this to round 780k and growing the PC caseload by round 100k.

The Joseph Rowntree Basis, a thinktank specializing in poverty, has mentioned that means-testing the winter gas cost, in the way in which that the federal government is doing, could push an extra 100,000 pensioners into poverty.

Based on an analysis by Steve Webb, a former Lib Dem pensions minister, for Lane Clark and Peacock, pensions consultants, there are about 1.9 million pensioners dwelling in relative povery. Solely about 300,000 of them are getting pension credit score. Of the opposite 1.6m, solely round half of them is perhaps eligible for pension credit score, he says. He says the opposite 800,000 don’t qualify for pension credit score, however pushed beneath the poverty stage by housing prices.

If all pensioners eligible for pension credit score had been to say it, the federal government wouldn’t save any cash from the winter gas cost lower. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has claimed she would not mind this outome, as a result of it might imply poorer pensioners had been benefiting.

The Inexperienced celebration says it backs Unite’s name for the federal government to impose a wealth tax as a substitute for reducing the winter gas cost. (See 11.21am.) In an announcement following the Labour convention vote towards the lower, Carla Denyer, the Inexperienced celebration’s co-leader, mentioned:

Right now’s vote at Labour celebration convention leaves Labour ministers out within the chilly. There’s a groundswell of assist – from opposition events, unions, many Labour MPs, well being staff, incapacity teams, charities supporting pensioners, in addition to others – for making certain hundreds of thousands of pensioners hold heat this winter.

Concentrating on a few of the most weak to repair the supposed black gap within the public funds is merciless and pointless.

There may be one other manner. A fairer manner. Because the profitable movement by Unite makes clear, taxing multi-millionaires and billionaires slightly extra wouldn’t solely simply cowl the price of winter gas funds for all pensioners but in addition generate further funds for a lot wanted funding in our well being and social care companies.

As Phillip Inman studies, the Organisation for Financial Cooperation and Growth (OECD) has considerably elevated its progress forecast for 2024. He explains:

Describing the UK’s financial progress as “strong”, the OECD upgraded its progress for 2024 to 1.1% from a forecast of 0.4% made in Could, because the nation recovers from a mild recession at the end of last year. The forecast of 1.2% progress in 2025 was maintained.

Within the Could forecast, the UK was behind all different nations within the casual bloc however is now anticipated to outpace Japan, Italy and struggling Germany. Britain is now on par with Canada and France however behind the US.

Rishi Sunak, the previous PM, and Jeremy Hunt, the previous chancellor, have each been posting about this on X. They dispute Labour’s declare that the Conservatives left the financial system in a poor state, and so they argue that these figures present they left the financial system in a robust state.

That is from Sunak.

Labour inherited the quickest rising financial system within the G7.

However the Prime Minister and Chancellor consistently speaking the financial system down has already had a dangerous affect on shopper and enterprise confidence.

Time to cease taking part in politics and put nation first, celebration second.

And that is from Hunt.

The OECD information right now but once more reveals that Labour had been left a robust financial inheritance, regardless of their desperation to say in any other case. The Chancellor’s decisions on the Price range might be hers and hers alone.

The OECD figures are in regards to the state of the financial system usually. Labour’s most important criticism in regards to the Tories has been in regards to the state of the general public funds (and the £22bn hole it claims to have discovered between what the Tories had been planning to spend this yr, and the cash they needed to fund this), though Labour additionally argues the financial system has been underperforming for years.