LICHFIELD’S MP says the Labour government will not “bury its head in the sand like the Tories did” when it comes to the nation’s finances.
Dave Robertson’s comments came ahead of a vote on potential changes to the Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners.
Proposals could see only those claiming pension credits be eligible for the support in future – a move which could reduce the numbers receiving the funding by around 10million.
Former Conservative MP for Lichfield Michael Fabricant said pensioners would be “anxiously watching” to see how their elected representatives will vote next week. He added:
“I shall be particularly interested to see how the MPs for Lichfield and Tamworth vote given their outspoken comments in favour of the Winter Fuel Allowance before the General Election.
“Explanations from the Government about a ‘surprise £20 billion black hole’ simply won’t wash. Firstly, scrapping the allowance saves £1.3billion, but the Chancellor Rachel Reeves spent more than double that on meeting trade union demands and other commitments last month.
“And secondly, Labour have had full access to Treasury data for the last six months so there are no economic surprises. She would have been well aware of Britain’s finance long before the election.
“The £400 increase due in pensions next year will be welcome, but is there to make up for inflation and will be no compensation for the loss of the Winter Fuel Allowance. I hope all MPs will vote with their conscience on this next week.”
But Mr Fabricant’s successor as Lichfield MP said the Labour government were being forced to “make decisions that no-one wants to make” due to Tory mismanagement of public finances.
Mr Robertson said:
“The £22billion black hole in the public finances were left by a Conservative government burying its head in the sand and running away from their responsibility to taxpayer.
“Less than two years after Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget that crashed the economy over a £45billion overspend, the previous government ignored a looming crisis almost half as large.
“Things are so bad that Office for Budget Responsibility – set up by the Conservatives – is now formally investigating the previous government after its chair expressed concerns over the transparency and credibility of how the Conservatives drew up the last budget.
“This Labour government will never bury its head in the sand like the Tories did.
“We know that after 14 years of scandal, broken promises and failure that people have stopped trusting politicians and we know the only way to rebuild that trust is through honesty and openness. It’s not easy to hear, and it’s not easy to say, but the very least we owe the British public is honesty.
“And with honesty, we are now faced with having to make decisions that no-one wants to make, but we will have to because of the mess that the Conservatives left the country in. It’s hard, but it’s important to fix the foundations of the country and to stop this ever happening again.
“That is why just this week we voted on brand new legislation to make it harder for any government to ignore their responsibilities to taxpayers and to create a ‘fiscal lock’ to prevent a similar situation happening again.”
Disappointing Michael. Find something outside politics to occupy yourself
I’m bored of Dave ‘the nice local bloke’ already. He’s the new Fabricant…as in just going to squawk out the party line time after time. No comments from him on the housing development targets that are both unrealistic and potentially devastating to his constituency and now he’s conveniently forgotten that he campaigned saying to protect the winter fuel allowance. He must think we’re stupid. We’re not Dave. So don’t get too comfy or you’re out again in 4 years. Reform voters were the reason you won. Look at the numbers. If they vote Tory next time then you’re in trouble. To keep your seat you need to be bold, not just nice and local.
There was no black hole Chancellor Reeves. You invented it to cover public sector wage settlements, so just own it. Stop the lies. Also, removing pensioners winter fuel allowance to bump up train drivers salaries to £70,000+ without productivity gains won’t be forgotten, or forgiven.
I wonder if the MP for Lichfield understands that his party is as responsible for the overspend identified in the review by the treasury (July 2024) for £21.9 billion as the Tories. Both parties support arms to Ukraine (£3 billion) both parties agreed to higher public pay and Labour have gone further than the Tories with this. Both parties failed to get a grip of illegal immigration (£6.4 billion) – the lack of support from Labour was a major contribution to the failure of the previous government to find a solution.
And what has been labours answer to these problems? Make the elderly freeze this winter.
Is this the change you voted for?
A surge housebuilding on our green belt is incoming …..
I agree, the Labour government will not bury its head in the sand like the Tories did when it comes to the nation’s finances. They’ll just make it ten times worse like they always do.
I voted for Dave to get fabricant out, and Im glad he won
but Im ashamed to say I actually had hopes that Starmer might of been a more decent PM than Rishi and Boris, how wrong I was, hes a corrupt lying scumbag tory in disguise
instead of taking money off pensioners why not spend a little less on bombs
or how crazy is this idea
legalize cannabis and tax the hell out of it, its everywhere anyway, atleast the money wont be going to dealers and gangsters?!
Looks like the labour party has turned into the nasty party. Rachel Reeves once said ” I’ll never forget the woman I spoke to in my Leeds West constituency who had freezing hands and purple fingers because her pension wasn’t enough to pay for heating” well guess what Reeves has forgot about that pensioner in her Leeds West constituency. Keir Starmer said labour has a fully costed plan to freeze energy bills , well guess what bills are going up 9% this autumn. There’s talk of removing the 25% discount on the council tax which will affect millions of pensioners. Reeves quietly last month axe the £86000 cap on the Dementia tax , this will leave pensioners and their families with nothing. What next the bus pass and they have the cheek to say they are on the pensioners side.
Too many folk read and believe the Tory press
Dear Labour Party
We see you, we are not stupid. Your are currently in the pre-tax rise phase of your project. You’re setting the ground for various tax/duty rises.
You’ve created a fake black hole of finances, now you are communicating that the October budget will need to finance the ‘back hole’ otherwise known as ‘setting expectations’ trying to cushion the blow.
You’ve already given away wage rises without any condition improvements in return. This just sets the ground for a pile on from the unions.
It is such a shame that political manifestos are not legally binding.
We’ll be watching your voting as well dear local MP. We’ll see if you just tow the party line or actually act on behalf of your electorate.
When did Fabricant ever vote with his conscience rather than tow the party line. Remember dirty rivers and school dinners? Surprising how many people have short memories. Mike- you’re right, too many believe newspaper headlines are future party policy.