I have to comment on this. The really poor elderly(and there are enough) will die from a mixture of not having heating and not eating properly.
The old age pension paid in Britain is an absolute joke. About a £100 a week? Other EU countries provide about a half of the final salary to the pensioner and lots of other benefits like free weekly outings.
Personally I think it is absolutely disgusting that pensioners in Britain get so little. Most lived through the deprivations of World War 2 and some the aftermath of WW1 too to make the World a better place. What suffering have us "youngsters" lived through? Diddly squat. We have onbly known times of plenty.
Think about it. Mostly pensioners expenditure is food and heating. What has gone up? Food and heating. I bet you this and the other possible governments won't be giving pensioners a 20% increase in pensions next year! Or restoring pensions to their true value.
As for some pensioners being in a fortunate position to enjoy life. Good luck to them. Most will have worked hard all their lives and paid into the system for the whole of their life.
I watched a prog on UK TV the other day about benefit fraud. Use your energy to shop someone rather than cribbing about pensioners. One in five people are on benefits apparently. That will be the single mothers.
Finally to quote Dusty" Remember also how many O.A.P. have enough money to winter in Spain ,and then come back home to pick up their winter fuel allowance.All human beings are worthy of help and not just the elderly." The first winter I was here it was minus ten for days and minus 14 one DAY. Most houses here have no central heating. Any pensioner overwintering here or living here deserves their £200.
varche - blood now just off boiling point.
PS A good question someone ought to ask Gordon, AKA Darth Vader, Will he be giving back the windfall he has had in tax on oil and gas as it has produced much more treasury cash than they expected when they did the last budget?
