England’s coldest village saw temperatures drop to -11.2C this week (Image: Getty)
Residents in England’s coldest village have slammed Rachel Reeves for .
The disproportionately elderly community of Shap, Cumbria, recorded lows of -11.2C on Wednesday, in the country this winter.
One fourth of Shap residents are over 65 and would have qualified for the before Rachel Reeves axed it in July, a decision that has left them and around 10 million others up to £300 worse off than last year.
The chancellor has claimed the cut, which still provides payments for those claiming pension credit or other means-tested benefits, would save the Treasury around £1.6 billion each year and help to plug a “black hole” in the public finances.
But while such cost-cutting ideas may look good on paper, locals have accused both Ms Reeves and Sir of making damaging decisions from “their ivory towers”, detached from the realities of those who cannot now afford to heat their homes amid the latest cold spell.
One Cumbria villager told The Telegraph: “My neighbour is 74 and he’s struggling. He lives on his own at his farm, he’s got no support and he lost his winter fuel allowance this year.
“His pension isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, he hasn’t got the central heating working and now his only source of heating is some electric heaters.”
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Matt Brereton, a Conservative councillor at Westmorland and Furness Council, added: “I think [Starmer and Reeves] would do well to come and visit some people here to see how difficult it is.
“But so far, I don’t get the impression that they are of a mind to change their policy, which is now coming home to roost.
“There’s an element of ivory towers in this. They should get out of them – they don’t seem keen to come out to see with their own eyes.”
Former leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron also described Shap as “a wonderful warm community [that is] facing arctic temperatures [alongside] many other places in Cumbria”.
“The community has an above average number of older people, many of whom are on low incomes and who are at serious risk from the severe cold,” he added.
“It’s a reminder that the Government’s decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance is cruel and dangerous, they must reverse this dreadful decision immediately.”
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting accepted that the withdrawal of winter fuel payments “might be unpopular” last week after urging people to turn their heating on as January ushered in a decisive drop in the mercury.
He defended the controversial decision to cut the benefit on Sky News.
He said: “They might be unpopular decisions now, but I hope they’ll be decisions that in the longer run people thank us for when they see the country improving, when they see waiting times in hospitals falling, when they see children having enough teachers in the classroom and breakfast clubs, when there are more police on the streets, all of the change that we want to deliver, which isn’t easy given the scale of the challenge in the country, but that’s what we’re focused on in 2025.”
The bigger financial picture will be of little comfort to shivering 70 and 80-year-olds in north west England this weekend, however – with a cold weather health alert for the whole country in place until Tuesday.
Andy Beeforth, from the Cumbria Community Foundation said: “It’s not unusual for between 300 and 500 older people to die in the winter in Cumbria because they can’t afford to heat their homes or conditions that are linked to that.
“Absolutely there could be more this year…People live in older traditional properties made of stone and there’s not a great deal you can do to insulate them.”
The chancellor, who jetted off to China this week, has been accused of being out of touch (Image: Getty)
The NHS website’s guidance suggests that pensioners should have their heating set at 18C or above to mitigate health risks – something that may not be possible for some this year.
A study from Age UK in December suggested that over 77% of pensioners spent their winter fuel allowances on fuel costs in 2023, while 24% used the money to heat up meals.
The Government has said it is committed to supporting pensioners, pointing to a rise of up to £1,900 in state pensions this parliament through the arrangement.
A spokesperson told the PA News Agency: “Over a million pensioners will still receive the , and our drive to boost pension credit take up has already seen a 152% increase in claims.
“Many others will also benefit from the £150 warm home discount and cold weather payments this winter, while our extension of the Household Support Fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.”