SIR – The record of the coalition Government’s treatment of pensioners is abysmal.
Within weeks of taking office, the free swimming for the over-60s was abolished, notwithstanding the fact that regular healthy excercise prolongs active life and probably saves the NHS money in the long run.
Then we had the £50 cut in the winter fuel allowance, despite pre-election promises that it would not be touched.
The recent Budget announced the ending of the higher tax-free allowances for the over-65s – another blow to pensioners’ meagre living standards.
All these benefit cuts would not be so bad if the state pension were not so derisory – it is by far the lowest in Europe. The average state pension in the EU is 60 per cent of national average earnings, whereas in the UK it is a pitiful 28 per cent.
Even Steve Webb, the Pensions Minister, has said that it is utterly inadequate for basic survival.
National insurance contributions have been hijacked – in effect stolen – to offset general government expenditure and waste.
Pensioners don’t have much say in the running of the economy, but they do have one powerful weapon – their vote and they will remember how they have been betrayed at the next general election.
DAVID POWIS
Inkberrow
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