Millions of pensioners rely on winter fuel payments to help heat their homes through the colder months. The Chancellor must ensure they have the support they need.
Caroline Lucas MP is hosting a debate on Fossil Fuels and Increases in the Cost of Living in Parliament at Westminster Hall on the 11th of January from 9.30am to 11am. It's a great opportunity for us to show MPs why fixing the cost of living crisis means taking the leap away from fossil fuels - and why it needs to happen now. But first, we need to get MPs in the hall.
The Chancellor has just announced that from this year, winter fuel payments will be scrapped for pensioners who aren’t receiving pension credit or other means-tested benefits. According to Age UK, this will severely impact 2 million pensioners, many already living in fuel poverty, just before the energy price cap is expected to rise.
Energy prices are still high, and with households across the UK still struggling with the cost of living, we need to see more support to help people keep warm this winter - not less.
This is a dangerous decision which could condemn millions to living in cold damp homes this winter with little warning. The Chancellor must urgently think again and consult with older people’s charities on a better way to target this support to a wider group of pensioners.
Your MP can help us get the message to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Will you write to your MP today and ask them to speak out against the scrapping of winter fuel payments for struggling pensioners, and demand more support to help people keep warm this winter?
There's a template you can use, but more personal messages can make a big impact. If you're able to, you could make your email more powerful by writing in your own words, and telling your MP about how this plan would impact you or someone you know.
Writing tips:
Please note: emails will be moderated by our team before they are sent to your MP. Any letters that are off topic, are not in the spirit of the action, or that contain offensive or abusive language, will be rejected.
Welcome to your new roles. You’ve been elected to government with an enormous majority on the promise of change. Now you have a real opportunity - and responsibility - to deliver it. We’re encouraged to see that you’ve already stuck by your promise to end the ban on new onshore wind in England. But there’s much more to do to make our energy system fairer and protect households this winter.
For too long, our broken energy system has prioritised oil and gas company profits and left millions of people living in cold, damp, mouldy homes, forced to make a stark choice between heating our homes and eating.
As you enter Downing Street, millions of people are still living in fuel poverty. Whilst energy bills fell this month, we all know the benefits will be wiped out by the predicted rise in October. At a time of soaring energy debt, many of us simply cannot afford another winter of the same old system.
In your manifesto, you promised urgently needed change: to lower energy bills, insulate homes and invest in homegrown clean energy while getting us off oil and gas. Now, you must take urgent action to support struggling households through the coming winter.
We urge you to stick to the promises you made and deliver on them for communities all across the UK by: protecting vulnerable households, launching a Help to Repay energy debt scheme, expanding renewables, banning forced prepayment meters and ensuring smart meters work for all who want them, ramping up insulation programmes, reforming standing charges and ending energy industry profiteering.
There are simple and immediate ways you can begin to deliver on your commitments, and make things fairer for households, including:
- Launching the Warm Homes Plan
- Introducing a more comprehensive Warm Homes Discount this winter
- Protecting us from soaring energy prices by getting off oil and gas for good
We voted for bold solutions to the energy crisis. As the newly elected government, you have a once in a generation opportunity to show that you will bring meaningful change to fix our broken energy system for good.
