David versus Goliath
On TV they have termed the legal fight Peter and Florence Fanning have embarked upon to save the winter fuel allowance for all pensioners as a “David against Goliath” struggle.
That’s as maybe but in that encounter, remember, it was Goliath who ended up on the deck and David who was still on his feet!
So in this modern day battle when the couple from Coatbridge takes on the might of Labour London Government and Edinburgh SNP Government my money is still on Coatbridge.
The truth is that both Governments have bungled. Labour wanted an illustration of the mess the Tories had left the finances in and about how really tough they were going to be in running the Government so they picked on the pensioners.
Meanwhile the hapless SNP who were meant to be taking on responsibility for the Scottish pensioner winter support this year just caved in, through up their hands and said there was nothing they could do! They just meekly followed His Masters Voice from London.
What neither government did was conduct the proper equality impact assessments they are required by law to carry out. Sure they have cobbled together something now but they are too late. They had already made their decision on political grounds without consideration of the full impact on pensioners of withdrawing this vital heating money.
Why were they so frightened of the proper assessments? Well it’s simple. The last one which was done suggested up to 4,000 excess pensioner deaths over the winter from the withdrawal of the universal heating allowance. And that was in 2017 when fuel prices were dramatically lower than today and this frightening truth does not even begin to estimate the countless thousands whose health will suffer and millions who will live in fear of the cost of turning their heating on or up.
No politician even the grifters in London and the fearties in Holyrood wants to sign up to a cutback which will quite literally send thousands of pensioners into an early grave. Hence the governments didn’t follow the rules and left themselves open to a legal challenge and thank the Lord we still have organisations like Govan Law Centre to take up the cudgels for ordinary folk.
Of course it should not require the law and Peter and Flo Fanning to make these politicians behave. The Labour Government should be ashamed for using pensioners as pawns in their political game against the Tories while the SNP administration should have been on the barricades defending the people not enabling London rule.
In both parties, however, there are many MPs, MSPs and ordinary members who have grave doubts about this misguided policy and it is now time for them to speak out and stand up.
In Scotland, where it costs 40 per cent more to heat a home than in London, we should not tolerate this scandal a day longer. We are a nation of energy plenty whose lights are already kept on by the renewable power of wind and the water. Not a single one of our people should be plunged into fuel poverty because the world price of gas keeps going up!
It’s time to get behind Peter and Flo and lay these proud governments low because misrule by the mighty is only possible when the rest of us are down on our knees.
I have had the great pleasure of meeting the Fannings of Coatbridge over the last few days. They are an admirable couple, honest and straightforward, and deeply steeped in a lifetime of work supporting their community.
I was particularly struck by something Peter said to the fully assembled Scottish press corps. He said he hoped that they could win this legal fight but that his work as a trade unionist has taught him that there are some battles worth fighting - win or lose.
He is right and more power to Peter and Flo and their just cause.
