The state of pensions
Sir: A couple of weeks ago an elderly relative received a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions telling him that his state retirement pension is to be increased by 44 pence per week and his age-related pension by 23 pence per week, a total increase of 0.34 per cent. The inflation figures show the Consumer Prices Index has increased to 2.2 per cent and the Retail Price Index to 4.1 per cent.
1 P
I have just returned from standing in a long Post Office queue, mostly made up of young people speaking foreign languages, being handed generous wads of large denomination notes. It is right that a rich country should help and protect the dispossessed. However, from the evidence before my eyes today, it seems that a pensioner who has paid tax and NI for over 50 years is not considered worthy of financial support on the same generous level as fit, young, new residents who have yet to find work and pay tax.
I feel I am in danger of becoming the sort of person I avoid having to listen or talk to. Melanie de Blank
London SW11
Previous page
