'Pensioners had to choose between heating or eating' - Shropshire MPs react to U-turn on winter fuel payments

MPs across the region have reacted to the Government's U-turn on one of its most controversial policies.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves today (June 9) announced that more than three-quarters of pensioners will be entitled to winter fuel payments, in a decision that could cost the Treasury £1.25 billion. 

Some nine million pensioners in England and Wales will receive the payment, worth up to £300, this winter. Anyone with an income of under £35,000 a year will now receive it automatically.

North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan said she is "relieved" at the decision but said it should have come sooner. 

The Liberal Democrat MP said: "Finally the Chancellor has seen sense and realised how disastrous her policy was. It’s frustrating that we had to campaign so hard for this change when the decision was so clearly flawed from the very beginning.

"Countless pensioners have been forced to choose between heating and eating while the Government buried its head in the sand. For their sake I am relieved but I am disappointed it has taken so long."

The Government came under scrutiny after cuts to winter fuel payments were announced in July last year. 

Following the cuts, the payment was limited to those receiving pension credit or another means-tested benefit. 

However, after the U-turn, thousands of pensioners across Shropshire will receive the payments again. And as before, £200 will be given per household with a pensioner under 80 years old while £300 will be allocated per household where someone is over 80. 

Telford MP Shaun Davies also welcomed the move, but said he believes in "fairness" and that it is right that the richest pensioners do not receive the support. 

The Labour MP said: "I am delighted with today's news that more than nine million pensioners across England and Wales will receive winter fuel payments this winter.

"We have listened and we have acted. This has been an issue that many constituents have raised with me, and I’ve consistently stood up for Telford and called for a fairer system - the previous threshold was simply too low and excluded too many people who genuinely need this support. 

"The announcement marks a real and positive step forward. This is about fairness, and I do believe that the wealthiest pensioners - and the estimated one million pensioners living permanently overseas - should not receive this additional support, so that help is properly targeted to those who need it most."

Elsewhere, South Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson has called for the Government to apologise to pensioners.

"The Government's cruel decision to restrict access to winter fuel payments plunged thousands of pensioners into poverty and led to a spike in hospital admissions last winter," he claimed.

"Now these details have been set out, the Prime Minister and his Chancellor should apologise for betraying pensioners who lost out on vital energy support last winter when their access was unjustly restricted."