Pension credit claims soar as chancellor refuses to reverse winter fuel payment cut

Published

6 months ago

September 27, 2024

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Applications for pension credit hit nearly 75,000 in the eight weeks since the new chancellor announced the winter fuel payment for pensioners would be means-tested for the first time.

Figures released on Friday by the Department for Work and Pensions figures showed there were around 74,400 pension credit claims in the eight weeks since 29 July.

This is up from 29,500 claims in the eight weeks before the announcement.

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But in the seven days beginning on 16 September, the government received 11,800 claims – down from 13,400 the week before.

The new Labour government announced in July that only elderly people in receipt of benefits such as pension credit and universal credit would receive help worth up to £300 with their fuel bills over winter, whereas previously it was universal.

Labour has sought to justify its decision by saying it needs to stabilise the economy after the Tories left behind a £22bn financial “black hole”.

Ministers launched vast efforts to boost take-up of pension credit among eligible pensioners, with the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall saying “thousands” were missing out on the payment of an average of £3,900 per year.

The government has come under fire from all quarters for the cut, with Labour members at the party’s conference voting in favour of a motion calling for ministers to reverse their cut to the winter fuel allowance, in an embarrassing blow to the prime minister.

The motion was put forward by the trade union Unite, which has accused the government of embarking on “austerity mark two”.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite and outspoken critic of Sir Keir, moved the proposal by quoting Labour’s election-winning post-war manifesto, which she said was “one of hope”.

She added: “I do not understand how our new Labour government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched.

“This is not what people voted for. It is the wrong decision and needs to be reversed.”

But Ms Kendall defended the much-criticised cut to the benefit, claiming “this Labour government has done more to help the poorest pensioners in the last two months than the Tories did in 14 years”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has also held firm, insisting at the party conference that the policy would not be changed.

She told a fringe event on Tuesday that parliament had already voted on restricting winter fuel payments, and that “there was overwhelming support” for it.

SNP Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn said the prime minister “must finally listen to voters, admit he got it wrong, and U-turn on the Labour government’s damaging cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners”.

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But a Labour spokesperson said: “The Tories wrecked our economy and left a £22bn black hole in the public finances. They made commitments they couldn’t pay for, covered it up and ran away.

“The Labour Party was elected on our manifesto commitment to sound fiscal rules, economic growth is our primary mission and we will take the tough decisions now to rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off.”

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners, with millions set to see their state pension rise by £1,700 this parliament through our commitment to 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.

“Over a million pensioners will still receive the winter fuel payment, and our drive to boost pension credit take-up has already seen a 152% increase in claims.

“Many others will also benefit from the £150 warm home discount to help with energy bills over winter while our extension of the household support fund will help with the cost of food, heating and bills.”

Politics

Rupert Lowe says Reform leader Nigel Farage ‘must never be PM’ in latest attack amid leaks of claimed WhatsApp messages

Published

8 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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Rupert Lowe says Reform leader Nigel Farage 'must never be PM' in latest attack amid leaks of claimed WhatsApp messages

Ousted Reform MP Rupert Lowe has said Nigel Farage must “never be prime minister” after leaked messages came to light reigniting the party’s internal row.

Mr Lowe, now the independent MP for Great Yarmouth, launched his latest attack on Reform’s “rotten and deceitful” leadership after a private WhatsApp conversation between Mr Farage and a party activist was leaked to the BBC.

In the messages, Mr Farage is alleged to have called Mr Lowe “disgusting” and “contemptible” after he gave an interview to the Daily Mail that was critical of his leadership.

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He also allegedly claimed that Mr Lowe’s motivation for the interview was “damaging the party just before elections – disgusting”.

In a post on social media, Mr Lowe said the alleged leaked messages “prove that he [Mr Farage] kicked me out of the party and launched this malicious witch hunt because I dared to ask reasonable questions of Reform”.

“His visceral hatred of me is evident, particularly following the Daily Mail interview,” Mr Lowe continued.

“Farage has admitted himself, in writing, that the motivation behind my removal was the Daily Mail interview, in
which I raised reasonable and constructive questions of Reform structure, policy and communication – following
months of pushing for change behind the scenes.

“That interview is why they designed and launched their horrific smear campaign against my name. It is evil behaviour.

“Nigel Farage must never be prime minister. All I have done is tell the truth, and I will continue to do so.”

The row erupted after Mr Lowe’s interview with the Daily Mail, in which Mr Lowe said it was “too early to know” if Mr Farage will become prime minister and warned Reform remains a “protest party led by the Messiah” under the Clacton MP.

He also claimed that he was “barely six months into being an MP” himself and “in the betting to be the next prime minister”.

Reform UK then announced that it had referred the Great Yarmouth MP to police and suspended him, alleging he made “verbal threats” against chairman Zia Yousaf.

The Met has launched an investigation into these claims, which Mr Lowe has vehemently denied.

Reform has also claimed it has received complaints from two female employees about serious bullying in Mr Lowe’s constituency office – which the MP has also strenuously denied, saying they do not relate to him and were made by staff who themselves faced disciplinary action.

On the allegations against the employees in his constituency office, Mr Lowe said he would “not be engaging” with the Reform “investigation”, arguing they were “blatantly vexatious complaints” made by former employees who themselves “admitted serious offences” and were subject to disciplinary processes.

“There is no credible evidence of any ‘bullying’ by anybody, because there was none,” he wrote in his social media post. “This has been weaponised in a desperate attempt to smear my name.”

He added: “If am contacted by the independent parliamentary authorities, I will fully cooperate with them. I have heard nothing from any relevant parliamentary body, nor have my team”.

Last week Sky News reported that Mr Lowe is consulting lawyers about taking possible libel action against Reform UK, for making “untrue and false allegations” about him.

Mr Lowe, the former chair of Southampton Football Club, has not ruled out joining the Conservatives or another political party.

Mr Farage has said there is “no way back” for the suspended MP and has accused him of being “out to cause maximum damage” to Reform UK.

Sky News has approached Mr Farage for comment.

Politics

SEC says proof-of-work mining does not constitute securities dealing

Published

9 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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SEC says proof-of-work mining does not constitute securities dealing

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance has clarified its views on proof-of-work mining, arguing that such activities do not constitute “the offer and sale of securities” as outlined in the Securities Act of 1933, so long as they meet certain criteria.

In a March 20 statement, the SEC division addressed the “mining of crypto assets that are intrinsically linked to the programmatic functioning of a public, permissionless network” and determined that decentralized PoW networks should not be treated as securities.

Although the SEC’s statement did not name any specific blockchain, its views on certain PoW activities apply to permissionless networks where mining is used to participate in the consensus mechanism. The statement applies to solo miners and mining pools participating in such networks.

Security, SEC, Proof-of-Work — *The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance gives its view on PoW “protocol mining activities.” Source:* *SEC*

Although Bitcoin (BTC) is by far the largest and most significant PoW chain, there are several others, including Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC) and Monero (XMR). US regulators have long considered Bitcoin to be a commodity and not a security — a view that also extends to Litecoin and Dogecoin, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

A pro-crypto policy tailwind

Digital asset markets, including PoW chains, are set to flourish under US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to make America the world’s blockchain and crypto capital.

In addition to appointing a pro-crypto replacement to Gary Gensler at the SEC, the president has established the Council of Advisers on Digital Assets to advance common-sense regulations for the industry.

On March 19, the council’s executive director, Bo Hines, revealed that a comprehensive stablecoin bill could land on the president’s desk in a matter of months.

The same day, the Blockchain Association, an industry advocacy group, said a cryptocurrency market structure bill is expected by the summer.

“I think we’re close to being able to get those done for August […] They’re doing a lot of work on that behind the scenes right now,” said Kristin Smith, the Blockchain Association’s CEO.

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Politics

ZachXBT says he unmasked mysterious 50x Hyperliquid whale

Published

10 hours ago

March 20, 2025

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ZachXBT says he unmasked mysterious 50x Hyperliquid whale

Onchain sleuth ZachXBT said he had identified the mysterious whale who profited $20 million from highly leveraged trades on Hyperliquid and GMX as a British hacker going by the name William Parker.

According to ZachXBT’s March 20 X post, Parker — who was previously known as Alistair Packover before changing his name — was arrested last year for allegedly stealing around $1 million from two casinos in 2023.

Parker also made headlines a decade ago for allegations of hacking and gambling, ZachXBT said.

“It is abundantly clear WP/AP has not learned his lesson over the years after serving time for fraud and will likely continue gambling,” ZachXBT said.

ZachXBT said his findings are based on a phone number provided by a person who allegedly received a payment from the whale trader’s wallet address.

He also said that public wallet addresses associated with the whale trader received proceeds from past onchain phishing schemes.

Cointelegraph has not independently verified ZachXBT’s claims.

Massive leveraged bets

The mysterious whale rose to prominence after profiting approximately $20 million from highly leveraged trades — in some cases with up to 50x leverage — on decentralized perpetuals exchanges Hyperliquid and GMX.

On March 12, the trader intentionally liquidated an approximately $200 million Ether (ETH) long, causing Hyperliquid’s liquidity pool to lose $4 million.

Meanwhile, the whale earned profits of some $1.8 million.

Hyperliquid said the liquidation was not an exploit but rather a predictable consequence of how the trading platform operates under extreme conditions. The DEX later revised its collateral rules for traders with open positions to guard against such occurrences in the future.

On March 14, the whale took another multimillion-long position, this time on Chainlink (LINK).

Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are leveraged futures contracts with no expiry date. Traders deposit margin collateral — typically USDC (USDC) for Hyperliquid — to secure open positions.

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