LONDON: There is no evidence to support claims that Britain’s deputy prime minister promised to maintain the winter fuel allowance for UK pensioners in July 2024, despite assertions made in social media posts.
A screenshot attributed to Angela Rayner, allegedly published on July 30, 2024, stated: “Labour will protect the ‘triple-lock’ on state pensions, maintain the Winter Fuel Allowance & free bus passes for pensioners. #BattleForNumber10.”
This coincided with the announcement by Britain’s new finance minister, Rachel Reeves, that the allowance would be eliminated for millions of pensioners.
Social media posts on platforms like Facebook and X have suggested that this screenshot proves Rayner lied. However, there is no record of her publishing the post on July 30, 2024, as it does not appear on her X profile timeline for that day. In fact, it closely resembles a post she made on May 29, 2017.
The hashtag used indicates that the original post was made in the context of the general election on June 8, 2017, during a time when the Labour Party was led by Jeremy Corbyn and had a different manifesto than the current party under Keir Starmer.
Rayner has faced criticism for past tweets in 2017 regarding the Conservatives’ plans to cut the winter fuel allowance. For instance, on May 19, 2017, she tweeted, “The Tories want to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners in England but not in Scotland? Why do they treat pensioners so badly in England?” Another tweet on May 29, 2017, asked, “Will May confirm that 10 million pensioners will lose their winter fuel payments if the Tories are re-elected?” Rayner did not respond to requests for comment.
VERDICT: Misleading context. Rayner’s tweet about maintaining the winter fuel allowance was made in May 2017 under a different manifesto. There is no evidence to suggest the post was sent in July 2024.
