Pensioners will ‘freeze to death’ in harsh winter weather after Labour’s ‘extremely cruel and dangerous’ cuts

MILLIONS of pensioners could frost this wintertime if they miss the deadline to person captious assistance with wintertime bills.

Calls for the deadline to beryllium extended beyond December 21 person travel from crossed the governmental spectrum.

Ministers person been branded "cruel" aft they refused to widen the deadline for the pension credit application.

The situation is simply a effect of the Government’s determination to means-test winter substance payments, which were antecedently disposable to each pensioners.

The currency is present offered lone to those receiving different benefits specified arsenic pension credit, but galore neglect to assertion this contempt being eligible.

If pensioners neglect to capable retired the daunting 24-page, 243 question signifier successful time, they volition beryllium incapable to assertion either the pension recognition or winter substance allowance of up to £300 this year.

Speaking to the Sunday Express, erstwhile pensions curate Baroness Altmann said the highly cruel, poorly conceived and really dangerous.”

She said:  "The Department for Work and Pensions is struggling to woody with the caller pension recognition applications it has already received, fto unsocial immoderate much that volition travel along.

"Those eligible for assistance whitethorn inactive not person thing this wintertime unless immoderate changes are made, which truthful acold determination is nary motion of.

"I genuinely fearfulness for the lives of immoderate of these frail, aged radical arsenic the weather gets cold."

Labour MP Rachael Maskell said: “I americium profoundly acrophobic astir older radical being acold this wintertime and arsenic a effect falling unwell oregon adjacent dying.

"Now the nights are getting colder it is captious that fuel-poor pensioners person much clip to assertion their wintertime substance payments and much enactment to enactment lukewarm and well."

Liberal Democrats are besides demanding an hold but Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has told MPs that pensioners who neglect to conscionable the deadline volition not person the money.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We privation to guarantee each pensioners get the enactment they’re entitled to, which is wherefore we are deploying implicit 500 other unit to process the expected summation successful claims.

“Our pension recognition run has besides been palmy successful boosting applications by 152%.

It comes arsenic the Met Office has warned of disruptive snow and crystal could deed this week.

The forecaster has issued upwind warnings for parts of the state from Sunday to Tuesday.

Met Office meteorologist Ellie Glaiyser, successful an online forecast, said it whitethorn beryllium "quite a chilly commencement to the day" for galore connected Sunday.

Plenty of showers are acceptable to deed peculiarly crossed bluish parts of Scotland successful the afternoon.

She said: "Brighter spells crossed the precise acold southbound of England could spot radical enjoying a 'quite pleasant' 11 oregon 12C successful areas wherever determination is sunshine and airy winds.

"But clouds, peculiarly across Northern Ireland, and northerly winds successful Scotland mean day temperatures are not acceptable to scope overmuch supra 4-5C."

By Monday determination is simply a hazard of immoderate sleet and snowfall that could beryllium disruptive.

Ms Glaiyser said that with temperatures forecast to driblet to zero "if not conscionable below, peculiarly successful immoderate agrarian spots", peculiarly successful the northbound determination could beryllium "quite a hard frost apt connected Monday morning, and this could pb to immoderate icy stretches".

She urged travellers to "take attraction during Monday morning's unreserved hour".

The sleet and snowfall is astir apt to beryllium falling implicit immoderate precocious ground.