This could be far worse than axing the winter fuel payment

You won’t find me mounting the barricades in defence of the winter fuel payment, though I’ll miss the pleasant surprise when it landed in my bank account sometime before Christmas. I do, though, have a bit of a bone to pick with those well-heeled and often still lucratively-employed pensioners who dusted off their metaphorical loud-hailers (in the form of letters to newspapers and social media posts) every autumn to protest that they didn’t need it, that it was a waste of taxpayers’ money, and that they a) gave it to charity, b) spent it on Christmas presents or c) ordered another case of good wine. 

These individuals may be more responsible than they know for the Labour government’s decision to abolish the payment. This won’t just affect the more than comfortably-off like themselves, but the vast majority of the ten million or so who used to receive it, including those just above the threshold for other help.