Letters: Pensioners like me are privileged to receive a triple-lock pension

Labour changing their mind on winter fuel payments to pensioners would send out the wrong message, say Big Issue readers.

Responses to our article, ‘Would reversing winter fuel payment cuts to pensioners be enough to restore trust in Labour?’

I’m a pensioner and my group needs to be reminded that they are privileged to receive a triple-lock pension that is much greater than winter fuel allowance (WFA). Labour should be making this point every time the WFA is mentioned. Most have forgotten that when introduced, WFA for pensioners was temporarily allocated just for extreme cold events.

u/torsenukdsg, Reddit

I think the cut was the right thing. I know many pensioners who don’t need it at all, and to suddenly bottle it and hand them hundreds of pounds would be stupid at this point.

What they could do, is look into edge-cases, make sure those that need it are getting it. A fairly small study of those people who did not get it last year could probably be done in a few months and would let us know what percentage did suffer hardship. Then they can course-correct without
backing down.

u/Kwaklog, Reddit 

If they flop on the winter fuel allowance that will be terrible. Pensioners are getting more in real terms this year without it than they did last year with it, due to the additional £8 billion in spending on pensions thanks to the triple lock. 

An additional £4bn was allocated to the warm homes plan to actually tackle cold houses for poor people and poor pensioners.

u/Dimmo17, Reddit

No, and not just because people can see through the cynicism of the U-turn based on recent election results either.

The WFA cut was the first major act of this government while much of the rest of the manifesto was thrown into lengthy consultation periods. For something not in the manifesto it seemed oddly ready to go. Then there’s the dishonesty surrounding the cut in the first place. The promises of an impact assessment despite one not having been done. The invoking of an urgency provision to absolve them of the legal responsibility to consult the Social Security Advisory Committee. The use of secondary legislation to pass it on but with a single vote combined with the scheduling of the reading to get it in before the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee could read it.

It takes more than a single U-turn to restore trust in a government that has shown such disdain for both democracy and parliamentary procedure. A lot more. 

u/-Murton-, Reddit

Women at war

Dorothea Barron says that, “…men start wars, women don’t”. The Suffragettes declared war on the male establishment… and won! And Margaret Thatcher declared war on the working class, which is her legacy and ongoing. 

Malcolm Searle, Bury St Edmunds

Cat’s entertainment

After seeing Jade Atkins send her crossword in, I hoped to show some extra feline support! 

My rescue cat Storm highly approves this message (and we thank you for your excellent work). 

Jenny Smith, Manchester

Silent witness

Jess Watson seems to think that the most important thing about Christians is how many there are. I suggest more significant is how willing they are to remind us of the Christian message, even at times when it would make them unpopular.

Today Gaza looks like the city of Dresden did after it was bombed by the RAF in February 1945. What we have witnessed over the past 20 months is a descent into the kind of barbarism that prevailed in Europe 80 years ago, paralleled by a decline in the validity of the arguments made by the state of Israel in defence of its actions.

Eighty years ago Bishop Bell for a moment turned the Church of England into the conscience of the nation, as did Archbishop Robert Runcie after the Falklands War. They refused to allow the Christian message to be lost out of fear of upsetting their political masters.

Should those who profess to be Christians, and especially those who are in positions of leadership, continue to remain silent in the face of this assault upon every civilised value? To use the words of Bishop Bell, has the Church of England now become the State’s ‘spiritual auxiliary’?

Many years ago I saw a poster outside an Anglican church that read, ‘If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict?’

Well, would there?

Dr Les May, Rochdale 

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