GMB plays tragic video of dying OAP who can’t get winter fuel payments to Ed Miliband live on TV

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband was asked if he regrets cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners after being played a tragic clip of a woman telling him about her struggles

Ed Miliband has been shown a devastating video of a woman dying of cancer who can’t get her winter fuel payments and said she is “trapped” in her freezing home.

In an interview with Good Morning Britain, the Energy Secretary was asked if he regrets cutting the extra help for pensioners during winter after being played the tragic clip. He was also grilled about when people can expect their bills to go down after Labour promised they would be cut by £300.

Presenter Susanna Reid told Mr Miliband: “I’ll tell you one cut that people have definitely felt, and that is the cut in the winter fuel allowance that is affecting pensioners. And we’ve heard today from a charity, Marie Curie. Charity researchers said that those in the last year of life experience increased rates of fuel poverty – not having adequate income to heat their homes to a reasonable temperature.

“We spoke to one individual, Helen Van Bueren. She has been given six to eight months to live. That was back, actually in 2014 but she is living now in poverty, doesn’t receive winter fuel allowance, says she’s dying of cancer and cold, doesn’t know which will get her first, and has this message for the government.”

A clip of Helen then played out to Mr Miliband who was watching on a feed from the climate change conference Cop in Baku, Azerbaijan. Helen told him: “Because I have such a small income that to keep myself warm, I would need to spend an awful lot. I can’t live a normal life anymore. I’m trapped. Come and spend a day with me in the middle of winter with no heat and see how you feel.”

Asked by Susanna if he regrets removing the winter fuel allowance, Mr Miliband said: “Well, I’m incredibly sympathetic to your viewer that we just heard from, and that’s why the government is taking action to increase the basic state pension – which is so important, that is the foundation of dignity in retirement – to make sure that people are getting the pension credit, to expand the household Support Fund so they can be held for particular people in difficulty, like your viewer. And that’s why we’re also working with the energy companies to make sure that they can offer help to people in difficulty now.

“Obviously on the winter fuel allowance, that was a difficult decision that we made as a result of the inheritance we had when we came in and the black hole from the previous government. But we want to absolutely maximize the help for people. We’ve also announced plans to improve Home Energy insulation for people. So we’re taking a range of measures.”

Labour announced it was cutting the £300 winter fuel allowance for 10 million pensioners in the summer. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the support would now be restricted to just OAPs on pension credit or other benefits. She said she was left with no other option after finding a £22billion black hole in the public finances left by the Tories.

Pressed when bills will go down for British families, Mr Miliband admitted Labour’s pledge to reduce them by £300 may not happen until 2030. The Energy Secretary said the Government’s focus was on producing clean power here in the UK so it was not reliant on getting energy from foreign leaders like Putin, which puts us at risk of price rises as happened when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Marie Curie’s research showed the proportion of people dying in poverty has risen by almost a fifth in recent years. More than 111,000 people are estimated to have died in poverty last year across the UK, up from 93,000 in 2019, the study showed. Researchers said those in the last year of life experienced increased rates of fuel poverty – defined as having inadequate income to heat a home to a reasonable temperature – compared to those not at the end of life.