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Labour has today demanded that the Tories immediately abandon plans to remove the Winter Fuel Allowances from pensioners.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said: “This is a savage attack on vulnerable pensioners, particularly those who are just about managing. We will not stand by and allow so many of them to be back in a situation where they have to choose whether they heat or eat.”
This comes as Labour today warns that the Tory manifesto represents a threat to living standards and increased insecurity for pensioners and working people.
Commenting on the “extraordinary” lack of any mention of living standards in the Tories’ manifesto, McDonnell said: “Living standards are falling under the Tories, yet Theresa May couldn’t promise that she would seek to address this. There is a clear and unambiguous threat to living standards; an attack on pensioners and on working people.”
Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, outlined the threat the Tories pose to pensioners, including:
· The Tories’ new ‘Double Lock’, which would have left pensioners at least £330 worse off had it been in place in recent years.
· How five in every six pensioners are set to lose Winter Fuel payments, worth up to £300.
· That 34 million people face the prospect of working longer if Theresa May raises the State Pension age.
And it is a similar tale for working people:
· Since 2010, the average household is paying more in both direct and indirect taxation: nearly £2,000, with the threat of further tax rises
· Under the Tories the UK is set to experience the worst decade for real household disposable incomes since 1949.
Alongside the press conference, Labour has published a new document titled: ‘The Tory Threat To Living Standards’. This analysis reveals the scope of the Tory attack on living standards, setting out how working people and pensioners will pay the price of the Tories’ betrayal.
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John McDonnell, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, speaking at a press conference outlining the Tory threat to working people, said:
On the Tory manifesto:
“This was a manifesto that offers working people and pensioners’ insecurity with a huge question mark over their living standards.
“Gone was the commitment to raise working people’s living standards. Gone was the commitment not to raise taxes on working people. And gone was the commitment to protect pensioners’ incomes through the triple lock.
“This signals a clear threat to working people and to pensioners. So that’s the choice at this election; a threat to working people’s and pensioners’ living standards if the Tories are re-elected on the 8th of June, or a Labour plan to support working people. A Labour plan that will introduce a Real Living Wage of £10 an hour by 2020. A Labour plan that will commit to no income tax, VAT or NICs rises for 95 per cent of tax payers. And a Labour plan that will invest in our vital public services.
“That’s the choice at this election. A clear threat to working people’s living standards or a Labour Party that will stand up for the many, and not the few.
On wages:
“We are currently witnessing the worst decade for pay in 200 years.
“Real wages are still lower today than they were when the Tories came to power in 2010.
“According to the OECD, the UK is the only advanced major economy where growth has returned since the crash but wages have fallen.
“And it is unlikely to stop there. Experts have warned that with the cost of living increasing, household incomes are set to be squeezed even further.”
On taxation:
“Under the Tories working families are paying more in tax and there are further tax rises in the pipeline.
“Since 2010, the average household is paying more in both direct and indirect taxation- a total of nearly £2,000.
“Labour is promising no increase in taxation on low and middle income earners. The Tories in contrast have form on tax rises.
“They have increased taxes on working people before and they will do it again.”
Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, said:
On pensioners:
“The Tories have launched an all-out attack on pensioner incomes, by abandoning the Triple Lock, cutting Winter Fuel Payments, raising the State Pension age, and breaking promises on social care and GP access.
“They’ve laid bare the threat they pose to pensioners’ security and living standards. They have shown beyond doubt they’re turning their backs on older people and to future generations of pensioners.
“Theresa May’s message to millions of workers is now this: work for years longer only to receive far less generous support in old age.
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The Conservative Party manifesto launched an all-out attack on pensioner incomes, with three major new burdens placed on older people:
Labour will stand up for older people by maintaining the triple-lock on state pensions, protect winter fuel payments and free bus passes and spend an additional £8 billion over the Parliament on addressing the Tories’ social care crisis, while also laying the foundations for a new National Care Service.
Commenting on the pensioner penalties being promised by the Conservatives, Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said:
“Theresa May’s nasty party has launched a shameful attack on older people – introducing a compassion tax to force those in need of social care to pay for it with their family home. Labour is standing up for pensioners and guaranteeing the triple-lock on state pensions, as well as giving social care the funding it needs.
“It is clear the Conservatives are offering more of the same, tax giveaways for their billionaire friends and nothing for ordinary people. Labour is standing up for the many, not the few.”
Debbie Abrahams, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary said:
“The Conservative Party is completely abandoning older people by scrapping the pensions ‘triple lock’, removing the Winter Fuel Allowance from 10 million pensioners, making 34 million people work longer and forcing those who need care to pay for pay for it with their family home.
“This is the direct result of seven years of Tory economic failure. Labour completely oppose this shocking attack on a whole generation.
“We will deliver a secure and dignified retirement for the many, not just the few wealthy enough to manage under these Tory attacks.”
Ends
Notes to editors
According to the Resolution Foundation, the Conservative manifesto commitment to means test the Winter Fuel Payment will remove entitlement from 10 million pensioners: http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/blog/death-taxes-the-conservative-manifesto-and-the-changing-politics-of-intergenerational-fairness/