‘Grotesque’ plan to reduce access to winter fuel allowance leaves pensioners feeling ‘ashamed’
“I’m deeply concerned about the winter,” 81-year-old Kevin McGrath tells me when I meet him at his home in Corby, Northamptonshire.
He is recovering from a major eye operation when we sit down to chat, but he cannot contain his frustration.
The former Roman Catholic monk turned social worker said he has spent all of his life trying to help people and described Labour’s plan to take the winter fuel allowance away from millions of pensioners as “evil”.
“Of all the wealth in Britain, they target the ones who have very little in life,” he said.
Kevin and his wife recently moved into a small, two-bedroom apartment on the edge of town to cut down on energy bills.
Neither have a private pension and their only source of income is their state pension.
In July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that from this winter, pensioners in England and Wales will no longer be entitled to the winter fuel payment unless they receive Pension Credit or certain other means-tested benefits.
More than 10 million pensioners in England and Wales received the winter fuel payment last winter.
The government says the move will help them plug an estimated £22bn black hole in the public finances.
“I fully understand that the government has difficult decisions to make, but why are they starting at the bottom, why don’t they start at the top. It’s evil. It’s a crime,” said Kevin.
To be eligible, Kevin will have to apply to see if he meets the criteria to continue to receive the benefit, something he says is a source of embarrassment among older people.
“Who decides that we haven’t got enough money to live on? I speak to my friends who tell me they are ashamed and embarrassed to have to go through this process. These are people who have worked all of their lives.”
Data shared exclusively with Sky News by the charity Independent Age reveals growing concern about the policy among older people.
In August, the number of calls about pension credit, one of the main factors in assessing eligibility, was three-and-a-half times higher than the average for the first six months of the year.
And more than two in five calls in the same month were about pension credit, up from one in six in the first half of the year.
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Independent Age chief executive Joanna Elson CBE said: “This data from our helpline clearly shows that many people in later life are worried about the UK government’s decision to limit the winter fuel payment to those that receive pension credit.
“The people we speak to are frightened about losing a vital lifeline this winter, many are struggling on a low income and will be forced to make drastic cutbacks.
“Others tell us it is the first time they have reached out for support, as the winter ahead feels very bleak.”
The charity says it is urging the government to delay its plans to means test the winter fuel payment until more people can apply for pension credit.
Mr McGrath, a former Roman Catholic monk, says his friends feel ‘ashamed’ at having to apply for means testing
Read more:
Winter fuel payment changes – are you still eligible?
Chancellor makes ‘mistake’ with winter fuel payment – analysis
The government says the average state pension will rise under Labour.
A commitment to maintain the triple lock on the state pension, which guarantees annual increases in line with whichever is the higher of inflation, 2.5 per cent or annual earnings, has boosted pension payments since it was introduced in 2012.
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Now Labour says the triple lock will remain in place for the rest of the parliament, which means the full UK state pension could rise by about £460 a year from April 2025.
Kevin said he will have to wait and see what the winter brings and says he is disappointed in the new government.
“I find it sad that if you are elderly and you’re not economically active then you don’t matter. There’s something grotesque about it all.”
A government spokesperson told Sky News it is “committed to supporting pensioners”, adding over 12 million people will see their state pension rise by £1,700 this parliament because of the triple lock.
“Given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, it’s right we target support to those who need it most,” they said.
“We urge anyone who thinks they may be entitled to pension credit to check their eligibility and have already seen a 115% increase in claims following the launch of our awareness campaign.”
President Donald Trump is facing scrutiny after speaking at a private event for top investors in his $TRUMP memecoin while standing behind a lectern emblazoned with the official presidential seal — a move that may violate federal law.
The event took place Thursday at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, where Trump addressed 220 investors in his cryptocurrency project.
According to US law, the presidential seal cannot be used in any manner that could imply government approval or sponsorship. Violators can face fines or up to six months in prison.
Trump, who arrived at the club aboard a military helicopter, praised attendees and took aim at the Biden administration’s crypto stance.
When asked about potential conflicts of interest, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president’s involvement was personal. “It is not a White House dinner,” she told reporters. “It’s not taking place here at the White House.”
Related: Pictures give glimpse inside Trump’s memecoin holder dinner
Trump features presidential seal at private properties
This isn’t the first time Trump has featured the presidential seal at his private properties. Forbes has previously reported its use as golf markers at several Trump-owned clubs.
In a May 22 letter to the Justice Department, 35 House members asked the public integrity section acting chief, Edward Sullivan, to launch an inquiry over the memecoin dinner to determine whether it violated the federal bribery statute or the foreign emoluments clause of the US Constitution.
Under the emoluments clause, a US president is barred from accepting any gift from a foreign state without the approval of Congress.
Bloomberg reported that a majority of the attendees at the memecoin dinner were likely foreign nationals based on their connections to crypto exchanges.
“US law prohibits foreign persons from contributing to US political campaigns,” said the letter. “However, the $TRUMP memecoin, including the promotion of a dinner promising exclusive access to the President, opens the door for foreign governments to buy influence with the President, all without disclosing their identities.”
Related: US lawmaker introduces anti-corruption bill ahead of Trump’s dinner
Trump embraces crypto despite previous skepticism
Trump’s embrace of crypto marks a sharp turn from his skepticism during his first term. The $TRUMP memecoin, launched earlier this year, peaked at $74.34 before falling to $14.44 by May 22.
High-profile guests at the dinner included Tron founder Justin Sun, ex-NBA player Lamar Odom, and Asian crypto executives Sangrok Oh and Vincent Liu.
Sun, who reportedly invested over $40 million in $TRUMP tokens and spoke at the dinner, also has deep ties to Trump’s crypto ventures. He’s the top backer of World Liberty Financial, a Trump-affiliated firm currently under regulatory scrutiny.
Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express
A US federal judge has vacated key fraud and manipulation convictions against Avraham Eisenberg, the trader at the center of the case involving a $110 million exploit of the decentralized exchange Mango Markets.
On Friday, US District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled that the evidence presented at trial failed to support the jury’s conclusion that Eisenberg made materially false representations to Mango Markets.
The decision vacates Eisenberg’s convictions for commodities fraud and market manipulation and acquits him of a third charge, significantly weakening the government’s case.
Eisenberg, a self-proclaimed “applied game theorist,” was convicted in 2024 for artificially inflating the price of Mango’s MNGO token by over 1,300% in a matter of minutes and using the resulting gains as collateral to withdraw $110 million in crypto assets from the platform.
Related: US DOJ seizes $24M in crypto from accused Qakbot malware developer
Judge sides with Eisenberg
The Justice Department argued that he deceived Mango’s smart contract-based lending system, but Eisenberg’s defense maintained that he merely exploited poorly designed, permissionless code — without making any false representations.
Judge Subramanian agreed, writing that “Mango Markets was permissionless and automatic,” meaning the system couldn’t be deceived in a legal sense. “There was insufficient evidence of falsity,” the judge added, siding with Eisenberg’s interpretation of DeFi mechanics.
The judge also rejected prosecutors’ argument that the case should be heard in New York. Eisenberg was in Puerto Rico at the time of the trades, and the court found that no meaningful activity tied to the alleged crime occurred in New York.
The DOJ had cited a Poughkeepsie-based Mango user and a third-party vendor in Manhattan, but the judge ruled these were not enough to establish proper venue.
The US government must now decide whether to refile the vacated charges, though the Trump administration has recently signaled a reduced focus on crypto enforcement. Eisenberg still faces civil suits from both the SEC and CFTC.
While this ruling clears Eisenberg in the Mango Markets case, he remains behind bars.
Related: Mango Markets exploiter sentenced to over 4 years on child abuse material charges
Eisenberg charged with child pornography
In a separate case, Eisenberg was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on May 1 after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography — a charge stemming from unrelated evidence uncovered during his arrest.
In December 2022, US federal law enforcement authorities arrested Eisenberg in Puerto Rico. FBI officials charged the hacker with one count of commodities fraud and one count of commodities manipulation.
A jury found Eisenberg guilty of wire fraud, commodities fraud, and commodities manipulation in April 2024. The defense argued that the exploit was not a cybercrime and represented a “successful and legal trading strategy.”
Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express
Members of the US House of Representatives called for the Justice Department to investigate Donald Trump’s May 22 dinner for his top memecoin investors, citing concerns about “foreign influence over US policy decisions” and “potential corruption and emoluments clause violations.”
In a May 22 letter to the Justice Department, 35 House members asked the public integrity section acting chief, Edward Sullivan, to launch an inquiry over the memecoin dinner to determine whether it violated the federal bribery statute or the foreign emoluments clause of the US Constitution.
Under the emoluments clause, a US president is barred from accepting any gift from a foreign state without the approval of Congress. Bloomberg reported that a majority of the attendees at the memecoin dinner were likely foreign nationals based on their connections to crypto exchanges.
“US law prohibits foreign persons from contributing to US political campaigns,” said the letter. “However, the $TRUMP memecoin, including the promotion of a dinner promising exclusive access to the President, opens the door for foreign governments to buy influence with the President, all without disclosing their identities.”
The call for an investigation and a press conference asking Trump to “release the guest list” for the dinner both occurred hours before the event, which was held at the Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, DC. A group of protesters, joined by Senator Jeff Merkley, gathered outside the venue with signs stating “illegal crypto party” and “democracy is not for sale.”
Related: Who attended Trump’s controversial memecoin dinner?
Though some of the dinner attendees covered their faces with masks to conceal their identities, protesters and members of the media confirmed that Tron founder Justin Sun appeared at the event, as well as other Trump supporters who posted to social media. The complete list of attendees was not available at the time of publication.
The memecoin dinner still has the potential to affect pending legislation in Congress
In addition to the call for a DOJ investigation, Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate proposed legislation to address what they called “Trump’s crypto corruption” as Congress considered a bill to regulate stablecoins and a market structure bill.
Several Senate Democrats who initially voted against advancing the stablecoin bill, called the GENIUS Act, later sided with Republicans to set up a debate in the chamber.
Representative Maxine Waters introduced a bill to limit the access of any US president, vice president, members of Congress and their families to cryptocurrencies. Members of the Senate will also propose an amendment to the GENIUS Act to address Trump’s connection to World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform backed by the president’s family that issued its USD1 stablecoin.
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