Bristol woman, 85, says government is 'punishing pensioners' with winter fuel payment cuts

• Our reporter Ben McGrail speaks to those impacted by the cuts

An 85-year-old woman from Bristol says she feels betrayed by government plans to cut winter fuel payments to millions of pensioners across the country.

On Tuesday 10 September, MPs voted to approve government plans to cut the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

I an annual, tax-free sum of between £200 and £300, intended to give older people reassurance that they can afford to heat their homes in winter.

A total of 348 MPs voted against the motion and 228 MPs voted in favour of it.

Sir Keir Starmer has justified the plans to help "secure the foundations" of the economy, but backbench MPs, union leaders, and the opposition have all called on the government to reverse the decision.

Speaking before the vote took place, Sir Keir said it was a “really tough decision”.

Like many across the country, Judith Brown from Bristol will miss out this year. She doesn't qualify for pension credits but says she's far from being wealthy.

She said: "I feel betrayed. I never thought a Labour Government would do this - punish the pensioners instead of people who've got lots of money. Or the energy companies who make billions.

"I turn everything off at night. I unplug everything. I don't use the oven very much because it takes so much electricity.

"So many of us are doing everything we can to keep the cost down, but we do rely on that money."

Alison Davies from Weston-super-Mare is another person affected by the payment.

She's one of many who’ve been supported by the local group Burnham and Weston Energy to help keep bills down over the winter.

She said: "They've talked to me about how I keep warm and how I stop drafts and things coming in.

"But this is an old house and it does take a lot of energy to keep it reasonably warm."

Phil Dolan, CEO of Age UK Somerset, says charities may also lose out on donations from pensioners who don't need the allowance.

Mr Dolan said: "Wealthier pensioners when they get the £300 will happily donate that money to charity.

"We can then redistribute that money to pensioners where that money doesn't touch the sides of the bills that they're facing."

The change is expected to reduce the number of eligible pensioners from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, with most of those remaining on pension credit.

This is expected to save around £1.4 billion this year.