SIR Keir Starmer's decision to axe winter fuel payments "has the potential to create a health emergency", warn campaigners.
The PM paved the way for tax hikes and spending cuts yesterday by saying the Budget will be "painful" for millions of Britons.
But the Government was warned pensioners should not be at the front line of financial pain caused by cutbacks. Charities say some will face the devastating choice between heating their homes or eating after energy bills go up and the winter fuel payment is means tested.
Sir Keir, in his speech in the Downing Street rose garden, said he was trying to tackle a "rot" in the nation and stressed he "didn't want" to cut universal cold weather payments for 10 million pensioners.
But Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: "The winter fuel payment axe is not about rot in the system, it is about basic fairness for older people facing soaring energy bills.
"This has the potential to create a public health emergency which will actually create more pressure on the under-pressure NHS which the Prime Minister says he wants to fix.
"In real terms, the changes this winter mean that some older people will face the highest energy bills on record.
"The impact of living in cold, damp homes is particularly harsh on those older people with a disability, a long-term health condition or with poor mental health. It results in people turning to the NHS and, in some cases, can result in additional winter deaths."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 28, 2024-Ausgabe von Daily Express.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 28, 2024-Ausgabe von Daily Express.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Spurs find their spark in second-half revival
VILLA GO UP IN SMOKE
Herbie puts aside personal pain to power past Samoa
HERBIE FARNWORTH put family heartache behind him to destroy Samoa - and then took aim at Australia.
£1m cable theft gang left BT users with no service
A GANG which stole nearly £1million of broadband cable and cut off communications for thousands, have been jailed for a total of 14 years.
Grieving dad demands lifetime ban for killer drink drivers
A HEARTBROKEN dad used an appearance on TV's Question Time to campaign for life bans for drink drivers who cause fatal crashes.
Harris surging in bellwether state as women shun her rival
KAMALA Harris is leading in Iowa where Donald Trump had held a huge lead and comfortably won in 2016 and 2020, a shock poll suggests.
Fans rally to aid Trump's dream
THOUSANDS of Donald Trump supporters paraded their patriotism for one of the former US President's final weekend election campaign rallies.
John Stapleton on Parkinson's...You learn to live with it
VETERAN TV journalist John Stapleton is philosophical about living with Parkinson's disease, saying: \"You can't escape these things as you grow older.\"
'I will keep on trying to end domestic abuse'
Camilla's pledge in landmark ITV film
Flood crowds throw mud at royal couple
ANGRY crowds heckled the King and Queen of Spain and pelted them with mud on a visit to a town devastated by floods.
'We ask for change to give us the choice, not to shorten our lives but to shorten our death'
LAWMAKERS have a once-in-adecade opportunity to change Britain's cruel and inhumane assisted dying laws, Dame Esther Rantzen says.