Here's an idea - to get our Winter Fuel Payment back, we pensioners should take a leaf from ASLEF's book and go on strike. Oh, hang on - we're already on permanent strike, and getting paid for it.....
How about putting an additional tax on the energy producers, equating the the cost of the pensioners' Winter Fuel Payment, thus maintaining the Winter Fuel Payment for all pensioners.
It would be bad publicity for the energy producers to kick back against this, so I can't really see them complaining directly. They would probably make their displeasure known through a opaquely funded Tufton Street think tank.
Wealthy people getting the WFP is just wrong - it should be directed to those most in need; however, using pension credits as the cut-off risks leaving many of those in need without much in the way of support. Fully means testing it will be expensive and will probably wipe out a good percentage of the government saving, so pushing it on to the energy producers seems fair to me.
3 comments:
The Martin Lewis solution seems sensible: leaving the WFA with those in Council Tax bands A-D, no means test necessary. And then they could remove the Utility payment of up to £4,500 from MPs who require a second home when the starting salary for MPs is £91,000.
Souns reasnable.
There's a mammoth in the room.
IMF Fossil Fuel Subsidies Data: 2023 Update. “Globally, fossil fuel subsidies were $7 trillion in 2022”
A mammoth nearly everyone either denies or ignores.
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