ST Helens North MP Conor McGinn says more than 6,500 pensioners in the borough could lose their free TV licences and pay a combined total of almost a million pounds a year if Government plans go ahead.

This follows a debate in Parliament last week where Labour told the Government to keep free TV licences for over-75s.

Millions of older people across the country could lose their TV licence in 2020 despite the Conservatives’ 2017 Manifesto promise to protect free TV licences until 2022.

In St Helens North, 6,590 over-75’s households could face having to pay a licence fee, costing a collective £991,795 annually.

Conor McGinnMP for St Helens North said: “This Government has broken its manifesto promise to keep free TV licences until 2022, and now millions of elderly people are facing losing their free TV licences.

"If these plans go ahead, thousands of local people over the age of 75 in our community will lose out, and they will pay a combined total of nearly a million pounds a year.

"This is yet another Tory policy that punishes pensioners. Through scrapping free TV licences and changing pension credit alone, this Government would offload almost a billion pounds of costs onto our oldest citizens in a single year.

"This Tory Government is picking pensioners’ pockets. Labour is calling on the Government to urgently reconsider and fund free TV licences for over-75s.”