'Pensioners deserve to be treated with dignity and respect'

During the pandemic we picked up shopping and prescriptions for them and took extra care to make sure that they knew that their community was there for them. Why? Because we recognised then and still do now that when you have worked hard all your life you deserve to be supported to grow old, healthy and happy while being treated with dignity and respect.

So it is no surprise that over the last few weeks hundreds of people have been in touch with me about the Winter Fuel Payment.

Now perhaps there should be some kind of means testing to make sure that the genuinely wealthy do not get this payment. However, people earning £13,000 a year from a state pension are not wealthy. Means testing the Winter Fuel Payment against receipt of a little known benefit called Pension Credit is not a sensible or just thing to do especially not for the 24,202 pensioners in Thirsk and Malton who are going to lose this payment this winter. Pensioners off the gas grid or living in rural and isolated areas.

That is why I voted against the Government's decision to cut this payment. I must take this opportunity to commend Rachel Maskell for putting her head above the parapet to condemn this decision. However, make no mistake this cut was a political choice.

The choice the Government made was to prioritise train drivers over pensioners. This Government believes that a train driver on an average of £60k a year is worthy of an inflation-busting pay rise while pensioners are not worthy of an extra £300 of the course of winter.

If the Government really wanted to make sure that the wealthiest did not get these payments then this is something they could have debated and built a consensus round in Parliament. They could have taken their time and given people notice of these changes. But instead they have rushed through this detrimental policy, without and impact assessment and with blatant disregard for tens of thousands of pensioners across our area. This despite Labour's warm words for pensioners before the election.

It contrasts with the record of my party. When the Conservative Party were in Government we introduced the triple lock for pensioners and safeguarded free travel passes in addition to the Pensioner Cost of Living Payment of up to £300 which was paid as an increase to Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2023 to 2024. We also went into the last election on a manifesto commitment of the triple lock plus which would have meant that pensioners never would have paid tax on their pension.

These were also choices because my party believes that pensioners deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in their retirement.

While the introduction of means testing for the Winter Fuel Payment has undoubtedly been the biggest issue in my mailbox since my last article some issues rumble on in the background never making headlines but still causing significant angst and concern for my constituents.

Traveller sites are one such issue. We have several unauthorised sites in my constituency including in Sheriff Hutton and Rillington which can cause real disruption to local communities.

That is why last week I was pleased to bring a debate before Parliament on this very issue.

We must ensure that everyone is treated equally within the law and that of course extends to planning policy. As I said in my speech: "The real concern in my constituency is about a number of planning applications, and whether planning policies apply equally to local people and to other communities, including travelling communities." I very much hope that the debate will go some way in convincing the Government to give more powers to both local councils and police forces to bolster their ability to enforce the law around these sites.

Last week, I was also pleased to mark Back British Farming Day with a reception in parliament hosted by the National Farmers Union. More than 23,974 people work on around 8,793 farms in North Yorkshire and East Riding and generate more than £1.7 billion for the regional economy not including the contribution made by those working in allied industries and other supply chains.

Farmers are at the heart of our communities in Thirsk and Malton and like everyone I am so grateful for all the work they do day in day out to put food on tables across the nation. I recommit myself to making sure that farmers always have the best quality land to farm and to making sure that tenant farmers are treated fairly and with respect.

Finally, this is the last article before my Engineering & Technical Apprenticeships Fair on the October 17 in Thirsk. The last event was a great success which I hope to replicate. If this is something you think you might be interested in please take a look at my website or contact my office.

Kevin Hollinrake is the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton