The £1.4BILLION for Winter Fuel Allowance has been used for Foreign Aid

[CrispsnDips]

…the exact same amount!
It looks like there may be a turnaround and the WFA might be reinstated (something about the Trade Unions objecting…?)

There are often schemes available to help with extra insulation etc. Have a look on your energy provider's website for starters. You may be able to get free extra loft insulation for example. We got free cavity wall insulation a few years ago but that won't be suitable for a Victorian house.

The new state pension is £11k but the old state pension isn’t.

What a silly, obtuse comment. See this is the sort of brainless nonsense that carries no genuine meaning in the real world. I suspect what this sentiment really means is that you do not, in any real sense, care about old people of any nationality but you enjoy point scoring and virtue signalling on the Internet.

Of course each country needs to care for its own old people in particular. To suggest every elderly person in the world is ours and our governments responsibility just as much as the elderly in the UK is one of the stupidest comments I have ever seen on here.

I’m wondering this too. Our house is 400 years old and our fuel bills are nowhere near that. And why downsize to a house which is so obviously unsuitable?

Gone are the days when pensioner automatically = poor.

A lot of boomers have it minted, far more than the generations below.

Should be means tested

Exactly this. Giving all pensioners the money was ridiculous, all the pensioners I know have loads of money.

@Bulldog01

If your household income is less than £30k pa or you receive certain benefits you can apply for fully funded warm homes aid via your local council or your energy provider. This can provide loft insulation, internal or external insulation, solar panels and ASHP as required/suitable.

I was about to receive loft insulation, internal insulation, solar panels and ASHP but found bats roosting in the loft so it has been put on hold.

The amount is just about what reeves has been gifted for clothes,!

What does MN have against older people ? The ageism is shocking . There are many pensioners who don’t want to fill in what they see as an intrusive form for Pension Credit so they will miss out .
Labour’s own research a couple of years ago estimated that thousands of older people would die if the WFP was removed.
DH and I donated ours to the local foodbank and I know at least 3 other people who donated theirs to charity .

Would just like to point out that roughly ⅓ of 'boomers' are not yet at retirement age. I don't think people fully understand quite how young boomers are. It's the silent generation who are more likely to be affected by the removal of wfa

Exactly. The youngest boomers aren’t even 60 yet.

@Bulldog01 you sound like you'd be entitled to Pension Credit if your joint income is low. You should really apply for it, it will then entitle you to the winter fuel payment. It should raise your income by a few thousand a year. www.gov.uk/pension-credit

My husband's private pension is 500+ his state pension is 1019.00.my pension is not due untill February 2026.I am unemployed. Before you ask I have tried to find employment but at 64 it's not easy! Only 18% employers will employ a person over 60.The house is like a cottage built in 1830 with no insulation on walls/roof/floor. Our energy supplier was Shell which are expensive. We are now with Octopus, which is less expensive. During this summer our energy bills are 120.00 a month.previous winter/spring/summer Feb 23 to Feb 24 where in the region 350-400 in the winter months. We do not received pension credit as we bought our house with a mortgage.As far as we know that makes us unable to claim help with any fuel benefits.As we do not pay rent/mortgage from our income.I do agree that help with fuel bills should be means tested.Any couple/family who live on less than 20,000 pa is not going to find it easy to live!

@Firsttimemum202 , You are completely mis quoting me. 😂
I do think however that while in fantasy fairyland we could make everything wonderful and pink with sparkles. In the real world (I know such a scary concept but keep with me) we must be pragmatic about our ability to assist and understand that we just cannot put the world to rights. 😔
Communism always fails to equal happiness.

The issue is the timescales. That increase doesn't kick in until April. So this winter, there will be people in fuel poverty.

Judging by the link @Bulldog01 you could still get pension credit with a mortgage but your partner may not be eligible if you haven't yet reached pension age.

I think since you have a house, unless it is a one-bedroom place I would look at renting out a room. I hope you will be able to get warm home grants too.

20K with no housing costs to very different to 20K paying rent.

As I understand it - and I'm happy to be corrected - the triple lock merely raises the pension in line with inflation, so doesn't plug the gap left by the removal of the WFA for those pensioners who are just above the threshold for Pension Credit.

Triple lick raises pension by inflation, average earnings or 2.5% whichever is higher, this year average earnings increased by 5% which is above inflation and will increase state pension by about £500 i think.

I think Labour got it wrong trying to be too simplistic with the cut off and affecting poor pensioners just above the threshold.

I also think any amount of FA will not affect the numbers of people who want to leave countries where they have no future. You can’t expect wealthier countries to solve all the wars, corruption and religious despotism around the world.

Yes I don’t know why people keep talking about wealthy pensioners. There will be a chunk with no private pension but full state pension. The full state pension puts you above the threshold to receive welfare. It’s brutal and it’s basically a punishment for anyone who’s basically worked enough to get their full NI contributions in the private sector but didn’t earn enough to have a private pension.

I agree, the amount of just nonsense deliberately posted to generate anger is increasing and the site doesn't deal with it effectively.

You don't understañd it correctly.

The whole point of the TRIPLE lock is it isn't just linked to inflation.

Edited to add: I have concerns about the WFA policy, but important to get the facts correct in any conversation about policy.

I know you think this sounds like “citizen of the world” talk but it’s nonsense. Nation states are built on concepts like citizenship and territory. If you are a citizen of a country then the government and society has some obligation to you.

Mine is a third of that! Definitely look at your loft and window insulation, and if you just have an incredibly draughty house, consider moving somewhere better insulated.