As the colder months draw near, Hertsmere’s pensioners face the prospect of a winter without the winter fuel payment. Over 16,000 pensioners in Hertsmere will no longer receive payments of between £100 and £300 to help them with their heating bills.

Labour spent years warning the Conservatives would scrap the winter fuel payment. Labour’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones MP, claimed before the election that Labour had ‘no plans to make changes’ to pensioner benefits. They even claimed it would cost 4,000 lives. In fact, we always preserved it in government and yet one of their first acts in coming to office was to scrap it. It is the same hypocrisy that we have sadly seen over a range of issues from gifts and hospitality to their use of private planes. They attacked the Conservatives in opposition and then promptly did exactly that when they achieved power.

I have always believed that pensioners deserve dignity and security in retirement. That’s why I supported the triple lock which ensures pensions increase by the higher of inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent. This is something the Conservative government introduced after the scandal of Brown’s 75p pension increase. Winter fuel payments provide another such protection. This is important because unlike those in work, pensioners have little opportunity to increase their income in retirement so need to be able the plan on the basis of secure sources of income. The Government betrayed that trust with this cut.

For all these reasons I voted against this proposal, and will continue urge the Chancellor to reverse this decision to ensure our pensioners are afforded dignity and respect in retirement. I may no longer be in Government but I can assure you that I will hold the Government to account from the opposition benches speaking up on issues from protecting our Green Belt, to defending Israel and stopping politically motivated attacks on our private schools.