LABOUR is being challenged in Wirral over the government’s plan to cut winter fuel allowance payments to nearly 60,000 pensioners in the borough. Around 10m pensioners in Wales and England who are not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits are expected to no longer get the annual payments, worth between £100 and £300.

The UK government has said most pensioners would benefit for an upcoming rise in the state pension and it’s been argued the cuts are needed to sort out public finances following the last Conservative government. The cuts have also let to a reported surge in claims for pension credit which means more pensioners will continue to be eligible for the winter fuel allowance.

However, Labour continues to face pressure to reverse the policy and recently lost a union motion at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.  At a full council meeting next week on October 7, Wirral’s Conservative councillors have put forward a motion calling for the cuts to be reversed.

The motion calls for councillors to write to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, all four Wirral Labour MPs as well as contact community organisations and ask Mayor Cllr Cherry Povall to sign a petition against the cuts. The motion will either need the support of both the Green Party and Liberal Democrats or Labour in order to pass.

According to the motion, government data shows 58,800 pensioners in Wirral who received winter fuel payments in 2023 but didn’t receive pension credit. This figure reportedly includes more than 18,600 pensioners over the age of 80.

The Conservatives said the winter fuel payment which is currently paid to all pensioners is “a lifeline” and the cut “risks leaving many pensioners in financial hardship, including those with disabilities and long-term ill health.” They argue the cuts “will have a devastating impact on many pensioners” and were “deeply unfair.”

Deputy Conservative group leader Cllr Lesley Rennie said: “Every Government since 1997 has made sure that, no matter what else is going on, some of the most vulnerable in our society would be protected. This is an issue on which all parties can come together.”

Pressure could also come from outside the council as one pensioner set to lose out on his allowance plans to establish a campaign group for pensioners in Wirral West. Phil Simpson, previously a campaigner on green belt issues, felt it was time pensioners made their voices heard.

He told the LRDS he felt pensioners were considered easy targets, adding: “Pensioners, they do not realise they have the power, not just in Wirral but in the whole country. The whole thing is at their fingertips. They have to realise that voting for the same old thing isn’t going to change anything. In fact it’s going to get worse.”

While Mr Simpson said he will be able to manage without the payments, he said: “The country is getting worse and worse. It’s down on its knees. The cost of living is going down but it’s not going down that much.

“It’s not going to impact me but there are other ways to make the money up that they say is missing. There are other ways and that is taxing the richest.”

He said: “They have taken completely the wrong approach. I am fed up hearing about this £22bn black hole. I want to see written evidence,” adding: “The pensioners can change the makeup of Wirral Council and they can change the makeup of the government. They have that power.”

Wirral Labour were asked for a response to the motion put forward by the Conservatives. Other motions have been put forward including calls for ethical advertising and a unity statement from Labour following the stabbings in Southport and riots after.

The Labour motion pays tribute to emergency workers and the wider community and calls for the council to denounce “all forms of prejudice, hatred and violent disorder,” adding: “True community spirit always shines through.”