Liz Jarvis MP blasts Government for taking almost a year to begin listening to concerns about Winter Fuel Payment cuts

The Chancellor has said that she will listen to the concerns over the Government’s decision saying that “I do understand the concerns that people have” and that she would “continue to listen to understand the concerns that people have raised”.

Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh, Liz Jarvis said:

“If the Chancellor had bothered to come to Eastleigh and hear the concerns of frankly terrified pensioners, worried about staying warm or going hungry, she would have realised what a disastrous decision this was.

 “The Government should feel embarrassed that it has taken almost a year and an awful set of local elections to finally start to get the message which I have repeated to them time and again in Westminster. This policy was doomed to fail and some of the most vulnerable are bearing the brunt of these cuts.

 “We will have to wait to see if the Government has truly listened and brings forward a genuine plan to change course but after this utter shambles I do not have much hope. My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I will hold the Chancellor’s feet to the fire and make sure that pensioners here in Eastleigh get the fair deal they deserve.”