'IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE' TO HEAT OR EAT

Labour's winter fuel cut slammed for leaving pensioners to make an...

- Katie Harris

PENSIONERS fear for their lives with an "impossible choice" of heating or eating after the winter fuel payment was cut, campaigners warn.

They urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to drop her controversial plan to strip most OAPS of the handout of up to £300.

The People's Health Trust charity has found the policy is already affecting health in the poorest communities.

Reform MP Lee Anderson accused Labour of a "shameful betrayal" of pensioners by taking the money away.

The health inequalities charity investigated the experiences of "older people in disadvantaged communities who face impossible health choices between heating and eating". John Hume, chief executive of the trust, said: "Too many older people experiencing disadvantage are already living with energy debt and fuel poverty, forcing them into unacceptable decisions about switching on the heating for an hour or buying food.

"These are decisions no one should have to make, with implications that seriously impact their health and shorten their lives." He went on: "We have heard from communities that older people simply don't know how they're going to survive the winter without the winter fuel payment.

"For many people £200 or £300 may not seem like a lot of money for older people living in poverty, it can quite literally be a lifeline.

"It is completely unacceptable that up to 2.5 million older people should be subjected to avoidable cold and food poverty which will lead to further health inequalities.

"The policy will place even greater pressure on the NHS and voluntary and community services over an already-pressured winter.