Why are pensioners paying for the greed of energy companies?

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

The government should tackle the problem from the other end and work to keep the fuel costs down (PA)

Perhaps, rather than looking at supplementing pensioners’ income with extra money for winter fuel costs, the government could tackle the problem from the other end and work to keep the fuel costs down so they are affordable.

While energy costs have fallen somewhat, the major energy companies are still making billions in profits off the backs of consumers. We need to either tax the companies more effectively and use the money to rebalance the books and/or cap charges to curb their greed. This would benefit the whole country and also stimulate growth by reducing costs for businesses and improving life throughout the year.

Mike Margetts

Kilsby

Get it over and done with

The outcry over the new chancellor’s announcement of cuts to pensioners’ winter fuel payments was doubtless predictable, and I imagine, will have been factored into Keir Starmer’s new government’s plans.

I am surprised that the bar has been set so low that even poorer pensioners will lose this benefit, although it has always seemed ludicrous that the better off should have received it at all. When I receive my annual payment, I send an equivalent amount to Shelter, to assuage the guilt I feel at being a recipient. I hope that Rachel Reeves will revise the limit for eligibility upwards so that those genuinely in need do not suffer. Yet no doubt she has calculated that that would bring in less revenue for her other purposes.

This measure – and her warning about impending tax increases – is probably part of a strategy that demands that unpopular measures be enacted early in the new government’s lifetime, leaving four years for remedial attention to the country’s finances followed by some restorative payments to ease the pain. The aim will be to smooth the path to the next general election by getting the painful parts over at the start, in the hope that short memories will prevail and the anger at this measure will abate.

This does, of course, potentially provide the SNP with a lifeline that its waterlogged party badly needs before the 2026 election. I hope that voters do not fall into that trap.

Jill Stephenson

Edinburgh

The proof is in the Pearson

Eighty-two-year-old Lord Pearson should take some lessons in religious education before he inflicts his warped opinions on his fellow peers and the rest of us. Resorting to racist dog whistles and Islamophobic tropes is unacceptable in the House of Lords and our modern government.

He represents a perfect justification for the abolition of the House of Lords and its replacement with an elected second chamber. At the very least, a compulsory retirement age for peers should be introduced.

Patrick Cleary

Gloucestershire

The devil will be in the details

Putting aside the likelihood of Angela Rayner’s ambitious housing targets actually being achieved, it does seem strange that Labour has not, it appears, addressed the issue of ensuring that 50 per cent of the target that will be houses for sale in the open market can be financed by purchasers.

Unless mortgage rates come down to a more sustainable level very soon, it will continue to be very difficult for most prospective purchasers to obtain mortgage offers that enable them to buy houses built for open market sale. And those houses will likely be more expensive as developers adhere to 50 per cent “affordable homes”. Costs will inevitably be heaped upon the former percentage of homes, as developers will not want to see their profits reduced.

Will the new regulations force developers to build within a certain period of gaining planning consent? If not then land hoarding will likely continue until the developer judges maximum profit can be achieved. And will landowners be forced to sell developable land rather than await further increases in value as has been happening for years? The devil will be in the details of Rayner’s proposals.

Paul R Draper

Winchester

Compensation is costing the NHS dearly

The eye-watering cost of clinical negligence claims continues to cause concern. As these costs spiral, more money is being diverted away from patient care and improvements to NHS services.

The high cost of clinical negligence also has a significant impact on healthcare workers not protected through a state-backed indemnity scheme – such as dentists and private practitioners – who bear the cost of protecting themselves against claims.

A balance must be struck between compensation that is reasonable but also affordable – and a proper strategy put in place led by the health and justice departments. The new government must turn its hand to this issue swiftly and consider some bold reforms if we are going to get close to addressing it.

Dr Rob Hendry

London

Kim Sengupta helped define The Independent

I read with sadness about the death of Kim Sengupta.

Kim was one of those core journalists who you want to read. You knew his work was authoritative and worth looking at. Balanced, taut and pointed, it laid out the facts and what they meant. He helped me appreciate other cultures and the different viewpoints that exist.

He helped define The Independent and will be greatly missed.

Mark Ogilvie

Horncastle