Millions of retirees should be less cold this winter

The British government announced Monday that it would reverse the abolition of the universal heating benefit for pensioners, which was announced last fall as part of budget cuts but was widely criticized, including within its own Labour Party. This represents a major policy reversal for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had justified the elimination of this benefit by the need to restore balance to public finances.

Concretely, the government will raise the threshold for obtaining this allowance, so that "no pensioner on a low or middle income is excluded," the Treasury stated in a press release, which will benefit "the vast majority - more than three-quarters - of pensioners in England and Wales." This decision, very unpopular with the public, was also unpopular among the Labour Party, with the Conservative opposition having a field day in its attacks on the government.

All pensioners with an annual income of less than 35,000 pounds (30,000 Swiss francs) will once again benefit from this aid, i.e. around 9 million people, a threshold "well above the income level of pensioners living in poverty," the press release emphasizes. The amount of the government boost is 200 pounds per household or 300 pounds for those over 80.

This reversal will cost the government around £1.25 billion in annual spending. However, the benefit will still be cut for the wealthiest pensioners (around 2 million people), saving around £450 million compared to the previous system. "Targeting winter heating support was a difficult decision, but necessary because of the legacy left by the previous Conservative government," said Chancellor Rachel Reeves, quoted in the press release.

Since returning to power almost a year ago, Labour has set itself the goal of cleaning up public finances, with significant tax increases, particularly in employer contributions, as well as cuts to social welfare and central government. They justify these decisions by citing a £22 billion (CHF 25 billion) "black hole" in the coffers, which they claim to have inherited from the Conservatives.

Keir Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted, suffered a setback in early May when the far-right Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, won a by-election in England and took control of several regional councils.