A pensioner has launched a scathing attack on civil servants receiving bonuses while winter fuel allowance is being cut for older Britons.
Sue Ashcombe Hurt branded the payments “disgraceful”, after it emerged Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officials received bonuses of up to £14,000.
“It’s not something extra for them to do, is it? That’s what they should be doing all the time,” she told GB News.
New figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show the DWP paid £645,685 in end of year bonuses to senior civil servants in 2023-24.
Pensioner Sue Ashcombe Hurt has hit out at Rachel Reeves for allowing civil servants a bonus after scrapping the winter fuel payment
PA / GB News
The bonus payments were shared between 91 of the highest-ranking officials, with a median payment of £7,250.
This total sum would have covered Winter Fuel Payments for more than 3,000 pensioners.
Speaking to GB News, Hurt hit out at the decision: “Why are they paid an extra £14,000?
“I bet if Rachel Reeves was paying it herself, she wouldn’t be paying them £14,000, it’s only because those taxpayers are daft enough to pay it.”
The Government has affirmed they are ‘committed to supporting pensioners’
PA
The pensioner also claimed the winter fuel policy change has backfired financially for Labour and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
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“It’s already been shown that Rachel Reeves is not going to get the money that she expected from this disgraceful act,” she said.
She argued that increased Pension Credit claims combined with winter fuel allowance payments are now exceeding Labour’s projected savings.
“The amount being claimed now from pension credits plus the winter fuel allowance, those people who’ve gone on Pension Credit, are exceeding the amount that she was expecting to get from the Treasury, so it was a complete waste of effort”, she explained.
Hurt concluded by offering several alternative proposals for Government to help with cost savings, instead of “penalising pensioners”.
Sue Ashcombe Hurt told GB News that Labour is ‘penalising pensioners’ but rewarding civil servants
GB News
Hurt told GB News: “If you want to save money, here’s a couple of suggestions – reduce the amount of expenses MPs can claim, halve the amount of money that the peers can claim for just turning up to sit in the House of Lords for the day.
“And take £22billion off that stupid Miliband bloke, who’s putting that money into carbon capture where not even the Greens want to do that.”
She stated: “They say that it is a waste of money, so why are Labour throwing money away and yet penalising the pensioners?”
A Government spokesperson defended their approach, stating: “We have had to make tough choices, but are committed to supporting pensioners.”
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