Welsh FM accused of doing ‘nothing' to protect pensioners from winter fuel cut
Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, called for Eluned Morgan to apologise to the pensioners affected by the change last winter, arguing the Welsh Government should have stepped in to support those in need.
Speaking during First Minister's Questions on Tuesday, Mr Millar said the cut had forced vulnerable people to choose between heating and eating.
Baroness Morgan, leader of the Welsh Labour Government, said she was 'absolutely delighted' that the UK Government had reversed the cut for many.
The payment, worth up to £300, will be restored to the vast majority of pensioners, with anyone with an income of under £35,000 a year now getting the payment automatically.
The decision last July to restrict the winter fuel payment to the poorest pensioners was intended to save around £1.5 billion a year, with more than nine million people who would have previously been eligible losing out.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, announced the partial U-turn on Monday, following significant backlash from charities, opposition MPs and the Government's own backbenchers.
Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Millar said: 'Yesterday we saw a screeching U-turn on the winter fuel allowance by Rachel Reeves, after considerable pressure from the Conservative Party.
'You will know that over half a million Welsh pensioners were deprived of their winter fuel payments last year, leaving some very vulnerable people with the unenvious choice of having to choose between heating and eating – it's an absolute disgrace.
'You are meant to stand up for Wales but what did you actually do in terms of this winter fuel allowance? You did absolutely nothing.'
Mr Millar argued Baroness Morgan should have implemented a Welsh winter fuel payment or stood up to Sir Keir Starmer and demanded the payment be restored sooner.
Baroness Morgan responded that she was 'absolutely delighted' that Sir Keir Starmer had listened to pensioners in Wales and across the country.
'I'm really pleased that because we have made representations to the Prime Minister on this issue that he has changed his mind and that will make a difference to hundreds of thousands of pensioners across Wales this winter, in a country where we do have more older people and housing which is more difficult to heat.
'I don't think that it's bad to listen to people and then to make sure that you respond to them.'
Baroness Morgan had previously pushed back against the cut, having called for a 'rethink' in early May, saying it was something 'that comes up time and again'.
At the time, the Government said there would 'not be a change to the Government's policy'.
On Monday, Ms Reeves suggested that the 'stability we've brought back to the economy' meant the Government was able to change the eligibility threshold for winter fuel payments.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Parents warned they could be missing out on huge benefit as they need to apply
Students who are eligible for free school meals should be automatically registered to ensure no child misses out, the Education Policy Institute has demanded in a report Students who are eligible for free school meals should be automatically registered to ensure no child misses out, a think tank has demanded. Parents across the country face different requirements in applying for free school meals which is creating "inequalities" in accessing them, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) said. In some local authorities, parents are required to make their own application while facing significant barriers and if not found eligible at the time must reapply when circumstances change. Other local areas keep an eye on whether a child becomes eligible and sign them up as soon as they are entitled, without relying on parents sharing details or making an application. It comes after Keir Starmer last week announced that more than half a million children will become eligible for free school meals after a major expansion of eligibility rules. The PM unveiled plans to extend the lifeline benefit to all kids in families who get Universal Credit (UC) in England, in a move that could save parents up to £500 a year. Currently, only households on UC who earn below £7,400 a year qualify for free school meals. The expansion, which will come into force in September 2026, marked a victory for the Mirror's long-running campaign to widen provision to stop children being too hungry to learn. But concerns have been raised that many children will not actually receive the free hot lunch as they might not be registered. The EPI said despite efforts to enrol kids, issues around language barriers, digital access and stigma are preventing kids from benefiting from the system. Some local authorities, who already have auto-enrolment, discovered 'large numbers' of eligible children were not registered before they introduced the system. The Education Policy Institute's paper, funded by The Nuffield Foundation, calls on the Government to introduce a national auto-enrolment scheme to ensure all eligible families are registered for free school meals. It said: "Despite this expansion in FSM (free school meals) eligibility, without further action from the Government, children may continue to miss out on the free meals they are entitled to. The barriers to registration and differences in registration practices across LAs means children still face inequalities in access to free meals." The report added: "In terms of barriers families face in applying to FSM - including English as an additional language, stigma, confusion about eligibility - auto-enrolment would largely eradicate these issues." The report also found that some children who attend maintained nurseries before and after lunch are missing out on free meals to which they are entitled. An additional 77,700 children became eligible for free school meals in the past year, according to recent data published by the Department for Education. More than one in four (25.7%) pupils in England were eligible for free school meals in January, the equivalent of 2.17 million children - up from 24.6%, or 2.09 million, in January 2024. The Liberal Democrats have been piling pressure on the Government to auto-enrol eligible children for free school meals. Munira Wilson, the party's education spokeswoman, said: 'We were heartened last week to see the Government finally listen to so many campaigners - including Lib Dems - by expanding free school meals to all children in poverty. This report rightly identifies the next piece of the puzzle: the many, many children missing out on the meals they are entitled to. 'It's heartbreaking to think that thousands of families are missing out on transformative help that they might not even know their children are eligible for. We urge the Government to take this next common-sense step, listen to Liberal Democrats once again and introduce auto-enrolment for all kids on free school meals.' Dr Kerris Cooper, senior researcher for early years and inequalities at EPI, said: "Our research shows that while the extension of free school meal eligibility is a very positive step, more needs to be done to ensure that all children entitled to free meals can actually access them. "Introducing national auto-enrolment and including children in early education would enable this expansion in FSM eligibility to more meaningfully extend access to more children in poverty." Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: "Moving to a national system of auto-enrolment would be the next logical step to ensure that everyone who is now eligible under the new criteria will actually receive a meal and the intended benefits." He added: "We see no reason why a national system of auto-enrolment cannot be established relatively straightforwardly.' Last week, education minister Stephen Morgan told MPs in the Commons that the Government would be working to make it easier for people to apply. He said the announcement on expanding free school meals was a "significant, straightforward process for parents to know whether they are eligible".
Daily Record
43 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Lanarkshire has third highest number of suspected drug-related deaths in Scotland in first three months of 2025
From January to March of this year, there were 33 suspected drug-related deaths in the Lanarkshire police division, compared to 25 in the final quarter of 2024 and 29 in the equivalent quarter of 2024. Lanarkshire had the third highest number of suspect drug-related deaths in Scotland in the first three months of 2025. From January to March of this year, there were 33 suspected drug-related deaths in the Lanarkshire police division, compared to 25 in the final quarter of 2024 and 29 in the equivalent quarter of 2024. Only Glasgow (61) and Ayrshire (36) recorded more deaths in 2025. East Kilbride and Strathaven MP Joani Reid has pinned the blame on the Scottish Government. She said: 'The SNP have treated drug deaths as an opportunity for photocalls and ideologically driven politics. 'Instead of tackling the root causes of drug deaths they have promoted their drug consumption room, something that has made the life of too many people in Glasgow's East End a misery and has plainly utterly failed but had the political advantage of being something not being tried in England. 'The SNP could have tried fixing the local authority budgets they have ruthlessly slashed over their 20 wasted years in government, putting money back into support services, tackling poverty and fixing public health. But they have never been interested in any of that. Instead, there is renewed speculation that John Swinney plans another round of council tax freezes and council spending cuts ahead of next year's polls.' Ms Reid's Labour colleague, the Central Scotland list MSP Monica Lennon added: 'This tragic rise in drug deaths shows just how badly the SNP is failing vulnerable people and their families. 'SNP ministers must provide proper access to recovery, treatment and rehab services, because substance use deaths are preventable. 'Each of these deaths is a tragedy – the SNP must act urgently to prevent the crisis spiralling further out of control.' Across Scotland, there were 308 such deaths over the period January to March, with this total up by 33 per cent on the last three months of 2024. The figures come after the UK's first safer drugs consumption room, the Thistle centre in Glasgow, opened for a three-year pilot in January this year as part of Scottish Government efforts to reduce Scotland's drugs deaths. They said that 'suspected drug deaths in Scotland remain at a high level' - with such cases up by 76 when compared to the final three months of 2024. Speaking as this week's figures were published, Health Secretary Neil Gray, who is also the MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, said: 'Every death is a tragedy and through our £250 million national mission we are determined to continue our efforts to reduce harm and deaths. My condolences go to anyone who has lost a loved one. ' Mr Gray added: 'While these figures show a quarter-on-quarter rise in suspected drug deaths, they also note a year-on-year fall. 'We want every person experiencing harm to be able to access the support they need. 'We are taking a wide range of evidence-based measures including opening the UK's first safer drug consumption facility pilot, working towards drug-checking facilities and widening access to treatment, residential rehabilitation and life-saving naloxone.' Article continues below *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here. And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Should Scotland blindly follow England down the nuclear power path?
She didn't add 'top that, Swinney,' but a gauntlet was unmistakeably proffered. Jobs, apprenticeships, investment – oh, and it's low carbon too: Labour's sales pitch on nuclear power is a challenge to the SNP's 'no new nuclear' policy (conveniently overlooking that the decision to prevent new nuclear was originally taken by the Labour-Lib Dem coalition). Backing new nuclear power hits two spots for Labour – one, it helps with energy security, providing a low carbon baseload power source for when the wind isn't blowing, and two, it will create jobs and rather a lot of them (10,000 at Sizewell C in Suffolk, Reeves claims, including 1,500 apprenticeships). Read more Rebecca McQuillan This is all music to the ears of traditional Labour supporters who are disorientated by the ongoing retreat from traditional industry, alarmed about the wind-down of oil and gas, and sceptical about the capacity of the renewables sector to replace lost jobs. We hear you, the Chancellor is saying. Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, has been out reminding people that the SNP is refusing to allow Scotland to benefit from any of this munificence. On the face of it, the SNP's anti-nuclear power stance has become radioactive. But that's only on a narrow reading of the issue. There's more to it than that. The Scottish Government has a long-standing objection to nuclear power mainly on environmental grounds. Those objections are not daft – to this day, governments around the world are vexed by the question of how to dispose safely of highly dangerous radioactive waste. Accidents at nuclear power plants can be catastrophic. More immediately, building new nuclear capacity is also infamously expensive and costs are prone to rise, often astronomically, during the build phase. Hinckley Point C in Somerset, which is currently being built by EDF Energy, was initially projected to cost £18bn but last year EDF estimated it could end up costing up to £46bn. It's also several years late. The Government's £14.2bn projected spend on Sizewell C is only for the next four years, with overall costs officially expected to top out at £20bn, but industry experts suggest £40bn would be more realistic. The UK Government's own figures suggest power from nuclear costs two to three times more than wind power per megawatt hour. Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Image: free) So the Scottish Government aren't wrong to be holding back on nuclear, economically as well as environmentally. Focusing on renewables output is cheaper, cleaner and quicker to bring on stream, as well as producing lasting employment. But wind power and solar won't be enough, on their own, to meet all of Scotland's energy needs. To do that, Scotland needs reliable baseload power generation. The wind blows hard in the North Sea off Scotland but even sailing boats on the Moray Firth are becalmed sometimes. So how can Scotland cover its baseload power needs? That's the question that has yet to be answered clearly. Scottish ministers need a convincing plan or risk losing the argument by default. Yesterday Gillian Martin, the energy secretary, reiterated the no new nuclear stance and cited hydro power stations as 'a way of filling in any gaps in the generation of power". And why not? Scotland already has 88 per cent of the UK's hydro capacity. This country has different geography and a much smaller population than England. England might need to replace its ageing nuclear reactors, but does Scotland? It only has one still operating. It makes sense to check first that we can't meet our baseload power needs from renewables before jumping on the nuclear bandwagon. Pumped hydro storage is one option and is proven tech. Water is pumped from a lower reservoir to a higher one during times when renewable electricity is plentiful so that it can be let down through the turbines again to generate electricity when there's a power shortfall. A large scale pumped hydro scheme already being developed at Coire Glas by SSE Renewables would have 30GWh of storage, doubling Britain's electricity storage capacity. But how many pumped hydro plants would we need? Where would they be? Would they get through planning? How long would they take? The Scottish Government hasn't said. It has urged the UK government to provide better conditions for investment but details are scant. Read more Scottish ministers have also talked about the importance of 'grid-scale batteries' and vehicle-to-grid technology, allowing car batteries to store power and supply it back to the grid. They talk about the role of green hydrogen in 'long term and large scale' energy storage, but we need more details. Reeves has given the green light at last to the Acorn Project carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Peterhead, providing 'development funding'. The facility would collect carbon dioxide generated from gas-fired power generation and industrial sources, and store it underground. Environmental campaigners say its assumed benefits are hugely exaggerated, but it's backed by the independent Climate Change Committee and the Scottish Government. Either way, it will take years to get up and running. An aspiration for more hydropower investment, aspirational talk of batteries and hydrogen, and support for CCS is not a concrete plan. There's a strong argument to avoid saddling Scottish people with expensive nuclear power generation when energy security could be provided through cheaper, faster, cleaner methods, but the Scottish Government needs to show the way with a robust clear plan, and fast. Otherwise it's advantage Labour. Rebecca McQuillan is a journalist specialising in politics and Scottish affairs. She can be found on Bluesky at @ and on X at @BecMcQ
