Winter fuel payment cut could kill 4,000 people, Labour’s own research suggests
Winter fuel payment cut could kill 4,000 people, Labour’s own research suggests
Analysis published by Labour in 2017 said plans to means test winter fuel payments would be the ‘single biggest attack on pensioners in a generation’
I don't understand how this can happen through them losing £300 when the triple lock is set to increase by ~£700 this year.
Costs in genral have gone uk by way more then 700 a year.
For those renting Rent alone will be higher the. That. And housing benifit etc is means tested the same way this is now.
That said. As I have said elaewhere in the thread.
If this payment is the dif between life and death. Then this is clearly not the issue. But the level of means testing. And media history of negativity to claiming benifits is.
Every time the government of a country with 65+ million citizens change any policy, even the most obscure one, people die. Statistically that’s just the way it is with that many people.
I’m not saying 4000 is insignificant, I’m just saying the government can’t be paralysed from making decisions.
They could make decisions that actually benefit people for one.
And I would love a source that shows any policy change kills people. Sounds like ripe bullshit to me.
Yes, hold on, I’ll go and find my list of every policy reviewed against how many people it will kill.
Of course that doesn’t exist.
My point is that if you make the slightest statistical change, when you multiply it by 65 million, you’ll get something happening.
Change how much fertiliser farmers are allowed to wash into stream by a millionth; give slightly more to councils to fix potholes; change what day of the week pensions are paid out; change the frequency with which airports have to check for moisture in their fuel depots; allow a new type of plastic to be used to reline leaky drainage pipes running under old buildings; change the percentage that side windows in cars are allowed to be darkened etc etc.
I’ll give you a concrete example; in many countries ibuprofen isn’t allowed to be bought over the counter, but only after a consultation with a pharmacist. That’s because if may cause as adverse reaction if your stomach lining is affected by other medicines or illness. This kills people. Yet we happily keep buying it over the counter because it’s convenient and works better than paracetamol.
Should we move ibuprofen behind a pharmacist consultation?
Everything is a trade off when you’re dealing with 65 million people.
They will do this in a heartbeat, 4,000 dead people barely registers in the mind of a true market believer
. They will gleefully murder those 4000 people, then call you the idiot for having a problem with it because look how good death is for the economy.This isn’t gonna be the last time their own research comes back to bite them, they’ve had 14 years of pot shots at the conservatives.
Far easier to be the opposition and criticise, rather than deal with the reality and make the tough decisions.
As opposed to the conservatives, who just connive and scam and destroy public services. Labour have been in power for a couple of months, and have twelve years of the worst government imaginable to try to correct. The utter incompetence, corruption and mismanagement of the conservatives have left them with a multi-billion deficit to try to correct, I’d be shocked if they got everything right in trying to steer that sinking ship
be honest with yourselves.
If £200 a year on fuel bills. Is the difference between them dying or living. The issue is not really that £200.
The issue is one of 2 very clear things.
1st to few pensioners entitled to pension benefits not claiming.
Something the government is trying to solve. But 50 years of media negativity towards benefits claimants has a lot to do with that. Many of these people grew old under constant negativity towards needing welfare.
2nd, the level pension benefits are paid out at is far too low.
While, it truly bothers me that labour has not insisted on resolving that issue at the same time as means testing a benefit that clearly goes to people who are not in need. £200 a year is not nearly enough to make a huge difference here. Given the numbers. 4 to 6k a year of extra income before these benefits are capped is more the number. Especially when you consider for those renting. Housing benefit is linked to the same means test. The last few years of rent rises will outweigh that 200 a year hugely.
This is the tough decision.