I heard at first hand this weekend the views of local residents regarding the Labour government’s decision to restrict the Winter Fuel Payment to only those pensioners in receipt of means-tested benefits like Pension Credit.

Not surprisingly many are anxious and very unhappy. This decision also now needs to be seen in the context of the recently announced increase in the energy price cap which on average is expected to rise by a further £149 per year.

So, before the Autumn Statement, for which the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have laid the foundations for widely anticipated tax increases, more than 30,000 pensioners in Bury are already nearly £450 worse off under this Labour government which has only been in power for two months.

This is a far cry from the Labour promise of saving families £300 off their energy bills.

I agree wholeheartedly with the analysis from Age UK among other charities, that this decision by the Labour government will create social injustice and potential health risks due to this sudden change in policy and is likely to exacerbate financial hardship for many pensioners.

Some pensioners may have to choose between heating and eating. As everyone is aware this direction of economic travel was not being articulated by Labour prior to or during the general election campaign.

What we are seeing after a mere two months in power is a Labour government making choices, choosing to capitulate to massive inflation busting pay demands without requiring any reforms and making pensioners and hard- working tax payers foot the bill.

While the Labour government are happy to cave in to the demands of their trade union paymasters all of which are contributing to the alleged black hole the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer continually refer to, there is silence from government about the financial arrangements for local government.

For well over a decade, we have had nothing but complaints from Bury Labour regarding local government funding, so at next week’s council meeting myself and my Conservative Group colleagues will be proposing that the council writes to the Deputy Prime Minister (Angela Rayner) in her role for being responsible for local government asking her to announce when the long-awaited Fair Funding Review for local government will take place. 

And we will seek reassurances that Bury’s financial settlement for 2025/26 is maintained as a minimum, at the levels it has been in the last few years under the previous Conservative government, which were at a higher than average settlement than for the rest of the country.

It will be interesting to see if Bury Labour support us.