Starmer Told to Do More for Pensioners After Winter Fuel Payment U-Turn
UNITED KINGDOM, JUL 23 – MPs highlight that 2.8 million UK pensioners live below the Minimum Income Standard and call for reforms including better Pension Credit uptake to ensure dignified retirements.
- Last Tuesday, the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to establish a nationwide strategy on pensioner poverty, highlighting that 2.8 million live below the Minimum Income Standard.
- Despite eligibility, current rules penalise those marginally over income thresholds, creating a cliff-edge effect, as 700,000 households do not claim Pension Credit.
- Data reveal the Pension Credit uptake has stagnated at 61%–66% for a decade, while MPs described low claiming rates as `a scandal`.
- Responding to the report, Debbie Abrahams said `Poverty is insidious. It isolates, damages health, and strips you of dignity.` while a government spokesperson confirmed their campaign helped around 60,000 households claim Pension Credit, averaging £4,300 annually.
- Looking ahead, MPs demanded a Pension Credit take-up strategy for England by the end of 2025, while the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee urged ministers to commit to a baseline retirement income guarantee.
15 Articles
15 Articles

Starmer told to do more for pensioners after Winter Fuel Payment U-turn
A report from the Commons Work and Pensions Committee claims that a new strategy is needed to tackle unacceptable standards of living for older people in the UK.
If Starmer gets his way with the state pension, some people won't even get it as they'll already be dead
Outrage has erupted across social media after reports suggest that Keir Starmer could raise the state pension age to 74. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found under its narrow perimeters that the state pension age would need to rise to the mid seventies by 2068 in order to keep the triple lock intact. That’s without looking at the wider inequalities that mean one in six people have literally zero savings while 39% have £1,000 or less. At …
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