No one remembers that detail. Instead, the issue became totemic and while she only saved £9m at the time – or £112m in today’s prices – it earned her the playground nickname “Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher”.
It shows the danger of removing a benefit that people have got used to, even if the money can arguably be better spent elsewhere or to fill a fiscal hole. It’s a lesson Labour has learned the hard way from last week’s local election results after losing around two-thirds of the council seats it was defending.
Last year the state pension went up by 8.5 per cent, an annual rise of £691.60 for those on the full basic state pension or £902.20 for those on the full new state pension. This year state pensions are going up by 4.1 per cent – a rise of £363 a year for those on the basic pension or £472 for those on the new pension, with the triple lock ensuring an above-inflation rise, not something that can be said for the whole of the workforce.
square KITTY DONALDSON
Six votes prove it: Reform UK is now a serious political forceRead More
Last year, the Government decided to restrict the winter fuel allowance payments to those who qualify for pension credit and other income-related benefits, in a bid to save £1.4bn. The move, which did not feature in Labour’s election manifesto, means around nine million pensioners will no longer qualify for the top-up.
Following The Guardian’s report about a possible review of the policy – a key reason cited by voters for not supporting Labour in last week’s local elections – overnight No 10 denied any formal review. On the breakfast broadcast round, Health Secretary Wes Streeting deliberately dodged questions about the possibility of reconsidering the policy. He said ministers are “reflecting on what the voters told us”. The Government’s position later became fixed when the PM’s spokesperson declared at the noon Downing Street briefing that the policy was unchanged.
Instead, Downing Street went out of its way to point out how well pensioners are faring under this Government and say the decision was taken to balance the books. Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman insisted that millions will see their state pension rise by £1,900 by the next election through the commitment to the triple lock. They also pointed out how there had been a rose in applications for pensions credit and a boost to the household support fund with over £400m to ensure local authorities can support vulnerable people and families.
According to an analysis of DWP figures, in the 16 weeks after the announcement last July the Government received around 150,000 claims, compared with 61,300 in the 16 weeks before. However, many of those new claims were rejected – the number of pension credit claims actually awarded increased by 17 per cent, from 36,400 to 42,500. But the number of rejected claims rose by a whopping 96 per cent – from 27,100 to 53,100. The newest figures aren’t yet available but that is a lot of pensioners feeling the pinch.
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Labour deserves to fail if it abandons its identity
Read MoreLabour Welsh First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan, staring down the barrel of a Reform UK or Plaid Cymru walkover at Senedd elections next year, called on the UK Government to “rethink” the policy in a speech on Tuesday, adding that it “comes up time and again” with voters. But her call was rejected when Starmer’s press secretary said his administration will not be “blown off course” after the local election results. “We were elected as a stable and serious party after 14 years of chaos and decline.”
The complaint about pending welfare cuts also featured on the doorsteps of the English local election campaign. “We haven’t properly set out all the welfare changes yet so people think we are going to take their PIP [personal independence payments] away even if they’re obviously going to keep them; they’re scared of what we will do,” the second Labour MP added.
As the fallout from the local elections continued to dominate Westminster chatter on Tuesday, one Tory half-heartedly suggested, “Starmer, Starmer, Granny-Harmer”, testing out a phrase they knew wouldn’t fly. The farmers got there first after changes to their inheritance tax and bagged the best rhyming insult with: “Keir Starmer: Farmer Harmer”.
The coalition of voters that delivered Starmer a massive parliamentary majority only 10 months ago is already fracturing. Labour insiders know Starmer risks being defined by a policy delivered just three weeks after a landslide victory.
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