KINGSWINFORD and South Staffordshire MP Mike Wood made an impassioned speech in today’s House of Commons debate about the removal of the Winter Fuel Allowance from pensioners.

Mr Wood described the removal of the payment, which is to be taken away from 21,365 pensioners in his constituency, as “cruel” and said people will be forced to decide whether to buy food or heat their home.

MPs told the House of Commons that around 4,000 pensioners could die as a result of losing the payment to help them heat their homes when temperatures plunge.

Mr Wood urged the government to rethink its plan to axe the allowance for all pensioners not claiming Pension Credit.

He said: “The payments have been a lifeline for so many pensioners, helping them to stay warm during the harsh winter months.”

Mr Wood said pensioners have been given “no time to prepare” for the loss of income and Labour should have made its plan clear ahead of the July General Election in which they seized power from the Tories.

He said many pensioners would be worrying about what would be taken away next and he added: “Without these payments many will be forced to choose between heating their homes or other essential expense such as food or medication.”

He highlighted the plight of constituents who have contacted him to express their fears about the scrapping of the allowance and he added: “It’s wrong and it needs to be reversed.”

Fellow Black Country MPs Simon Ballinger, Labour’s new MP for Halesowen, and Sonia Kumar, Labour’s recently elected MP for Dudley, voted with their party – backing Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ plan to ditch the payment.

Mr Ballinger said pensioners on the lowest incomes in receipt of Pension Credit would still receive the payment.

He said he recognises the loss will hit those struggling but said he’d be running surgeries to help people claim what they’re entitled to.

Stourbridge’s new Labour MP Cat Eccles was not on the list of Labour MPs who voted against the Conservative motion to annul the Government’s axing of the payment, which was defeated by 348 votes to 228, a majority of 120.

But she has not confirmed if was among the 52 MPs who had no vote recorded and has not responded to a request for comment.

She said on her Facebook page, however, that she did not “think blanket distribution of the payment is the right thing to do and it should be targeted at those who need it most”.

The MP, who is also a Dudley councillor for Wollaston and Stourbridge Town, said she has been working with the council to identify people not claiming Pension Credit and she has supported several pensioners with applications for other benefits they are entitled to.

Leader of Dudley’s Liberal Democrats, Ryan Priest, said he urged the borough’s MPs to vote against plans to cut the payment after being contacted by “many local pensioners expressing their disappointment at the decision made by the new Labour government”.

He said after this afternoon’s vote: “The damage left by the Conservatives to our economy is unforgivable but cutting payments to vulnerable pensioners across Dudley is no way to bring about the change the country deserves.

“I was proud of the 72 Liberal Democrat MPs who opposed the Government today and stood up for the many pensioners who are now at risk of an even bigger winter cost of living crisis.

“Liberal Democrats will keep fighting this cut tooth and nail, we’re fighting for the real change people want to see.”