On Monday, immediately after Reeves had made her controversial announcement, I wrote that Labour had declared “intergenerational warfare” on the elderly. At the time, I thought I might be overdoing it. I don’t think that now.
Pensioners are now on the front line of Reeves’ and PM Keir Starmer’s battle to close the £22billion black hole in the nation’s accounts.
First, the party came for their winter fuel payments. Next, it will be after their pensions, capital gains and inheritances. Probably on October 30, when Reeves holds her autumn Budget.
Treating pensioners as cash cows is bad enough, but Labour is going one step further. It’s trying to claim the moral high ground at the same time.
Its message is that pensioners have been coddled for far too long, at the expense of younger people. Now they have to pay. Literally.
In April, Reeves appointed former HMRC head Sir Edward Troup as her tax advisor. Sir Edward, 69, is incredibly experienced, and very outspoken.
He has previously called for the over-75s to lose their “ridiculous” free TV licences, and a heap of other benefits, too. On Monday, he went on the attack again, defending Reeves’ winter fuel payment raid on X (formerly Twitter).
In his tweet, Sir Edward rudely described pensioners as “codgers” and claimed the winter fuel payment was “always undeserved”. And that was only the start.
Sir Edward wrote: “As a comfortably-off codger, my winter fuel payment was always welcome but always undeserved.”
I’m sure he’s right. Sir Edward has had a highly successful career. He was head of HMRC after all. And probably did very nicely out of his next job, defending offshore tax havens.
I feel confidenet that he could make it through the winter comfortably without his fuel payment. Unfortunately, many other “codgers” won’t.
I did a few quick sums on Monday and worked out that the cut-off point for claiming the cash, worth up to £600, is just £11,350 a year.
They’re just above the threshold for claiming means-tested top-up pension credit. Only those eligible for pension credit will get the winter fuel payment in future.
Cash-strapped pensioners may also bridle at Sir Edward’s term “codger”. It’s easy to have a chuckle at your own expense when you’re sitting out the winter in a nice toasty home. Not so easy when you’re shivering by a three-bar fire.
And they certainly won’t like what Sir Edward went on to say next. Basically, it confirmed my “intergenerational war” claim.
Sir Edward’s tweet continued: “We boomers have had it too good. Generational rebalancing is long overdue.”
So that’s it. In a nutshell.
Labour is going after the boomers. Their “ridiculous” benefits are all on the line now.
Which is fine in one respect. Many are doing very nicely. Especially semi-retired senior civil servants on taxpayer funded index-linked pensions.
The problem is that by going after them, Labour is also hitting those who aren’t doing so well, yet are just above the threshold for claiming pension credit.
People who have worked all their lives on modest salaries, built a little bit of pension, got a few savings, but not enough to live comfortably.
Not every Boomer is living in a big cosy detached house. And for those who aren’t, the Labour government is turning into a nightmare. Sir Edward approves.
Worried about where Rachel Reeves will strike next – see which tax hikes she’s lining up now.
