“I could not in good conscience vote to make my constituents poorer. I will sleep well tonight knowing that I voted to defend my constituents.”
Statement from Jon Trickett MP
I have voted against the government’s proposal to remove the winter fuel payment.
The winter fuel payment was a great Labour achievement. When it was introduced by Gordon Brown in 1997, I was proud to vote for it.
That Labour government had a transformative impact on pensioner poverty, which fell from 28% to 13% during our time in office.
It shames our country that pensioner poverty has now risen to 18% after fourteen years of Conservative Party rule.
This winter will be extremely difficult for my constituents of all ages. After years of obscene profiteering by energy companies, they are hiking bills yet again.
I fear that removing the payment from pensioners will mean that many more will fall into poverty this winter. We know that the consequences of pensioner poverty are devastating. It can even be a matter of life and death.
I have worked behind the scenes to try and change the government’s position, but to no avail.
Our country is richer than it’s ever been, but the wealth is not shared fairly. In my view the government should be looking to raise revenues from the wealthiest in society, not working class pensioners.
I could not in good conscience vote to make my constituents poorer. I will sleep well tonight knowing that I voted to defend my constituents.
- This statement was originally published by Jon Trickett here. We are proud to reproduce it in solidarity with Jon.
Well done Jon Trikket, unfortunately the other Labour ( I say it Loosely) didn’t follow your lead, unfortunately I feel that they have shown their colours and are obviously Blue Reds, I hope they all enjoy their 4 years in power because I feel they will never return to power!