After Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, scrapped the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners, Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: “We have been inundated with messages from pensioners who are angry and upset about the impact on them of losing their winter fuel payment this winter and, in the light of news stories about various industrial disputes being settled, some are also commenting that they feel they are being treated as a lower priority and that this is unfair.”

Helen Whately, the shadow transport secretary, said:

“The government has chosen to prioritise the unions over passengers and taxpayers — and pensioners, too.”

She said it was

“deeply disappointing that this government has chosen not to include working practice reforms in their deal”, adding: “Pensioners are being deprived of the winter fuel allowance, taxpayers are facing tax hikes and passengers are facing higher fares — all as a result of this government’s choice to put the unions first.”

The Government’s defence is that the cost of ongoing strikes is considerably less than the cost of the 15% pay award (spread over three years).  As someone who has made himself reliant on the rail system, I would agree. The cost of the two years of rail strikes has been felt most by those who commute to work and then by those for whom travel is a lifestyle choice. The getting to and from work is an activity of daily living for many of us and the commuter has been the victim without a voice in this dispute.

I do not believe that the settlement is the Government taking from the pensioner and giving to train drivers, the link is at best opportunistic and at worst “fake news”, designed to stir up angst with a new Government that historically has been thought to be in the Union’s pockets.

Many rail drivers are now pensioners, I was with some yesterday and one ruefully reminded me that his pension (based on his final salary) is not going up by 15%. Rail drivers are a highly skilled bunch who take on a lot of responsibility, they are at the top of the rail worker’s hierarchy and have negotiated a decent deal. We should not give in to the politics of envy but nor should we be bullied. ASLEF have won a limited victory but this is not a deal that stops pensioner getting paid. Changes in working practices, according to the men I was talking with onboard a private charter train, will arrive but “at the pace that safety allows”.

More widely, we have to stop thinking that what we give to pensioners we take from workers and vice versa. The loss of winter fuel allowance to many affluent pensioners will not be a great loss, to those for whom it is the difference between heating and eating, then we must make benefits pay by ensuring that pension credit reaches more of the 800,000 who are eligible but do not pay.

Meanwhile, we must do what we can to make work more productive. Sitting on a station concourse waiting for a two year dispute to resolve itself is not a productive use of a worker’s time. Where pensions are paid from productive labour, we need to encourage growth and the route to work accessible to all – not just those with access by car.

The question is wrong. We need good pensions that result from good work. Resolving historic labour disputes is rightly an immediate priority of a Government who cares about workers- and pensioners.