In a major speech, the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, has announced that if Labour win the next election in 2015 they would scrap the Winter Fuel Allowance for the richest 5% of pensioners. Up to 600,000 pensioners aged over 61 would lose access to the benefit as a result, which Ed Balls calculates would save the Government just over £100 million.
Ed Matthew, Director of the Energy Bill Revolution, said: “Half the energy used to heat households is wasted because our homes are so badly insulated. If Labour is serious about ending fuel poverty then it must fund a programme to super-insulate all fuel poor homes. That would create more growth and jobs than anything else the Government could do. The Treasury will be raking in £60 billion in carbon tax from consumer energy bills over the next 15 years. It is enough to end fuel poverty for good.”
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