A campaigner hit out at Labour for “refusing to engage at all with representatives of nearly 13 million older voters”.
Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Labour has been accused of “ghosting” pensioners by refusing to reply to campaign groups over anti-OAP policies.
Silver Voices director Dennis Reed criticised Sir Keir Starmer‘s failure to respond to a 150,000-signature petition against winter fuel payment
He also said he has not received a response after contacting Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall last month to request a meeting to discuss the policy.
Mr Reed said: “It is a very worrying trend indeed that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet is refusing to engage at all with representatives of nearly 13 million older voters.
“This ghosting behaviour is a kick in the face for all those older people who voted Labour at the general election, often for the first time, and smacks of a mixture of arrogance and guilt.
“However much they try to kick us under the carpet, we will keep telling the truth about the impact of their policies, with media support.
“Showing the cold shoulder to a quarter of the electorate is not the best tactic for achieving a second term of Government.”
Mr Reed also condemned the Prime Minister for not meeting World War Two veteran Anne Puckridge last week when she travelled 4,400 miles from Canada to raise awareness of frozen pensions.
The 99-year-old is among nearly half a million UK state pensioners whose pots have been set at the level they were when they left the country, rather than being uprated in line with payments for those who remain in Britain.
She met Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds last Tuesday but said she was “heartbroken” to have not seen Sir Keir when she hand-delivered a letter to Downing Street on Thursday.
It comes as the Labour Government has faced an ongoing backlash for restricting the winter fuel allowance to only OAPs on pension credit.
Ministers blamed a £22 billion black hole in the public finances left by the Tories, which they deny.
The controversial policy will see around 10 million older people lose out on the payments of up to £300 and save the Treasury up to £1.5 billion a year.
But it has come under fire from opposition parties, charities, unions and some Labour politicians.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners – with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.
“Over a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, and our drive to boost pension credit take up has seen applications more than double with over 40,000 more pensioners now receiving pension credit, and the winter fuel payment.”
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