Two things in politics that sit badly with the public are hypocrisy and being disingenuous. Unfortunately, many now see this as the ‘new normal’ under the Labour government that will become two months old this week. Cheered on by their enormous number of MPs and councillors, who now wield a huge amount of power over our lives, we are seeing decisions being taken by Labour that they have previously opposed and/or have falsely accused the Conservatives of planning to do.
The internet does not forget. There are many Labour videos and social media posts while they were in opposition, including of Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner, blaming the Conservatives for rising energy prices and implying we Conservatives would take away the winter fuel allowance for pensioners. During the energy price spike, the then Conservative government put in place measures to subsidise household energy bills to lessen the financial pain. Thankfully prices then reduced although they are still high by historical standards.
However, when it was recently announced that energy bills would be rising by 10% from this October, out trots Labour still blaming the Conservatives. As well as not providing the major energy support for all households that the Conservatives did, Labour are now taking away the winter fuel allowance from ten million pensioners, worth up to £300.
We Conservatives strongly oppose this poorly judged measure. I welcome that as a party, we are challenging this decision in parliament. What will help is public pressure. I have signed the Age UK petition and I encourage everyone to do so. It is very easy to find, just search online for “Age UK petition” and it is the first thing that comes up.
What is especially galling is that Labour are falsely blaming the Conservatives for leaving a black hole in the public finances, for removing the winter fuel allowance, when it is Labour creating a budget black hole, by instantly caving in to inflation-busting (and probably inflation-creating) pay demands from trade unions. It is no coincidence that trade unions are the biggest financial backers of the Labour party and their MPs.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
4th September 2024
