£22 billion black hole in our public finances must never be allowed to happen again

The Conservatives should never be trusted with Britain’s finances again. We knew that their reckless mismanagement of our economy, from the Liz Trust mini-budget, threw to throwing away billions of pounds on useless PPE, to overseeing 14 years of flatlining growth and recessions, meant we would have the worst inheritance of any new government in history.

What we did not know is that they had covered up a £22 billion black hole in the country’s finances. They knowingly overspent departmental budgets, covered it up, called an election, and ran away from the problem. Almost as if they knew they wouldn’t be coming back to fix the mess they had left behind.

We are determined to deliver the change we promised. That starts with securing our public finances. That means taking difficult decisions, and there are no harder decisions than means-testing the winter fuel payment.

The winter fuel payment has always been the least targeted benefit, with millionaires getting the same amount as those who must choose between heating and eating. Since the change to the qualifying criteria has been announced, I have heard from pensioners saying that they just give theirs to charity, or use it at Christmas to buy their grandchildren nicer presents. That is lovely, but we must make sure that every pound of public money goes to those who need it most.

In the long term we are determined to make all pensioners better off. Stabilising our economy will benefit us all with lower inflation and interest rates. For pensioners, in particular, we will protect the triple lock. This will, over the next five years, mean that over twelve million pensioners will see their State Pension increase by thousands of pounds. We will also bring down energy costs through our warm homes plans that will better insulate our homes and create GB Energy a publicly owned energy company that will permanently lower bills.

In the meantime, there are over 1 million pensioners who are entitled to pension credit but do not claim it. Claiming it would also mean they would be entitled to the winter fuel allowance. I am working with the local council and charities to make sure everyone in High Peak who could benefit from it does. If you think you or a family member or friend might be entitled, or you need any help with paying your bills, please do contact my office. We are here to help.