HomeUnited KingdomMore than half of Scots oppose winter fuel payment ‘madness’. Labour’s plans to strip the benefit from all but the poorest UK pensioners have proved unpopular north of the border.
More than half of Scots oppose winter fuel payment ‘madness’. Labour’s plans to strip the benefit from all but the poorest UK pensioners have proved unpopular north of the border.
August 27, 2024
More than half of Scots oppose winter fuel payment ‘madness’. Labour’s plans to strip the benefit from all but the poorest UK pensioners have proved unpopular north of the border.
by bottish
8 comments
> Research by the market research company Norstat found that 56 per cent of people [surveyed in Scotland] believe that the allowance, which is worth £300 to those aged above 80, should be available to every pensioner regardless of income.
> By contrast, 32 per cent said it should go only to those who claim means-tested benefits, while 11 per cent did not know and 1 per cent refused to give a view.
1. want to do something bad 1. announce something much worse 1. loads of anger 1. announce you’ve listened and are doing partial U turn – get credit for listening
Martin Lewis is suggesting using council tax banding as a way to give more pensioners the allowance back
I’m fully in support of less of my money going to rich pensioners
“…from all but the poorest…” is deeply misleading. Pension Credit is a terrible way to calculate this. There are plenty of pensioners who aren’t eligible for that who will be much worse off than a lot who are.
Is this something the devolved parliament can change if it feels the need?
I’d imagine heating costs are more important the further north you go so would think devolution would be handy in such cases.
The impression I get from reading about it on social media and news articles is the press is doing a poor job about informing about it.
Rarely any postinf from an older person is aware that if you’re still on certain benefits you will still receive it.
The boomers are getting themselves upset as they’ve always had every given to them and now something is being taken away that should be means tested they now think everything will be taken away.
There’s a massive gulf between qualifying for pension credit and millionaire pensioners. If they’re going to means test they should be making it easier to qualify at the lower end of the spectrum.
8 comments
> Research by the market research company Norstat found that 56 per cent of people [surveyed in Scotland] believe that the allowance, which is worth £300 to those aged above 80, should be available to every pensioner regardless of income.
> By contrast, 32 per cent said it should go only to those who claim means-tested benefits, while 11 per cent did not know and 1 per cent refused to give a view.
Archive: https://archive.is/vJivn
I think you’ll find it’s unpopular everywhere
[I’ve said it before](https://np.reddit.com/r/Scotland/comments/1erzkmn/scotland_scraps_universal_winter_fuel_payments/li2tw04/) I strongly suspect this going to be like an episode of Yes Minister
1. want to do something bad
1. announce something much worse
1. loads of anger
1. announce you’ve listened and are doing partial U turn – get credit for listening
Martin Lewis is suggesting using council tax banding as a way to give more pensioners the allowance back
I’m fully in support of less of my money going to rich pensioners
“…from all but the poorest…” is deeply misleading. Pension Credit is a terrible way to calculate this. There are plenty of pensioners who aren’t eligible for that who will be much worse off than a lot who are.
Is this something the devolved parliament can change if it feels the need?
I’d imagine heating costs are more important the further north you go so would think devolution would be handy in such cases.
The impression I get from reading about it on social media and news articles is the press is doing a poor job about informing about it.
Rarely any postinf from an older person is aware that if you’re still on certain benefits you will still receive it.
The boomers are getting themselves upset as they’ve always had every given to them and now something is being taken away that should be means tested they now think everything will be taken away.
There’s a massive gulf between qualifying for pension credit and millionaire pensioners. If they’re going to means test they should be making it easier to qualify at the lower end of the spectrum.