Ahead of the return of MPs to Westminster next week after the summer recess, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats has this morning indicated that his party will be looking to force a vote over the withdrawal of the pensioner winter fuel payment.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme this morning, Sir Ed Davey labeled the decision as the government’s “first big mistake”.
Continuing he said, “I think they need to think again and that is why Liberal Democrat MPs, all of them, have signed something called a prayer, to try and trigger a debate, and a vote, to get the government to think again”.
Given the tight timeline with which the abolition of the winter fuel payment is being pushed through by the government, it has been suggested that the proposals will not have time to be adequately scrutinized by the social security advisory committee, or indeed to be debated by the MPs.
In announcing this parliamentary move, the Liberal Democrats will be looking to further stir up latent opposition within the Parliamentary Labour Party, to try and pressurise the government to at least soften the nature of their proposals.
Already the Labour MP, Rachael Maskell, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ageing and Older People, has broke cover to call for a rethink on the way in which the winter fuel payment is being withdrawn.
In what might be the first sign that the government is looking at ways in which it may soften their July announcement, the Press Association last night reported the government’s energy minister, Miatta Fahnbulleh to have commented that the government was ‘committed to putting in place winter support this October’ such that they ‘will be hashing out the details over the next month’.
With energy bills also set to rise following a rise in the energy price cap announced by the energy regulator, OFGEM, last week, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, added his weight to these calls saying, “I want to see the warm home discount expanded and be more generous. That is the way not just to help vulnerable pensioners but people across the piece”.
