Cameron protects OAP benefits till 2015

seven-day-weekend

Roger1 wrote: »

Well, for those who are willing to give up the winter fuel allowance, the answer's simple - write a cheque for the £200 and give it to charity.

Same for the bus pass, if you don't want one, don't apply for one.

Just leave mine alone!

How do you know I don't?:)

chesky369

Yes, I think I said in my first post that I didn't care so much about the WFT, and I would also probably fail any means testing for the bus pass.

Oh yes, and I certainly give to charity - both in cash but more importantly in time and effort.

Roger1

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

How do you know I don't?:)

:huh:

How do you know I don't know?

I wasn't referring to any individual, only to those who say they don't need it and suggest that others shouldn't get it.

teajug

krisskross wrote: »

The easy way to do it would be just to give to people claiming pension credit.

Another kick in the teeth to those who provided themselves with some retirement income.

It should be based on income alone and that should be on the average wage for the country also the council tax should be the same as it is very difficult for a single pensioner living alone in a one bedroom flat. :T

teajug

margaretclare wrote: »

Why does it have to be seen as an 'us and them' situation i.e. young families today vs pensioners? Why is it a competition?

I'm a pensioner and I haven't got a bus pass. 'Benefits that young families get today' - well, suffice it to say that I'm darned glad I'm not bringing up a family today. I don't envy them.

You have said many times kin another forum that there is no public transport near where you live and it is too far for you and hubby to walk for bus por train but you have a car which others may not be able to afford or able to drive in a city so a bus pass is essential.


Your grandchildren are young therefore a lot better off than it was for our generation when young.

I would have loved to have the benefits that are available for young people today when I was there age.

Lib/Con brining up bus passes for people over pension age is to create a bigger divide between the young and old. Cameron wants to take away housing benefits from the under 25’s and got to be seen taking away from OAP’s as well. Busses would run empty after rush hour and why stop OAP's using them as the buses will be using up fuel anyway being running half empty which makes no sense at all. OAP’s will have to start using car and then they will have to undergo more tests to see if they are capable of driving as well, in the end they will end up having to use taxis to get out and about and who can afford that on such low state pensions in the UK.

teajug

margaretclare wrote: »

I really wasn't going to reply to teajug any more and I don't need my blood-pressure to rise this early on a weekend but....

You are assuming that my grandchildren are on benefits. Can I reassure you that not one of them is on any kind of benefit?

My GS went to university as a mature student. He didn't get a student grant, yet when I went - to the same university - I did get paid a full grant. So he was not more fortunate than my generation - quite the reverse.

My youngest GD would love to get married, but she and her fiance have no chance whatsoever of getting a place to live. Both of them are still living at home. My first husband and I bought our first home on a mortgage in 1962 with a small deposit. My GD and her fiance will be middle-aged before they have any chance of taking on a mortgage.

Apart from the fact that my eldest GD lives in a small council flat (for which she pays full rent and council tax) I struggle to imagine what benefits any one of them is on.

My GS couldn't get a job in his field for 2 years after graduation with a good honours degree. He didn't claim benefits, though, paid for himself by working in his former job, as a chef.

So please do not assume that my grandchildren, or indeed any of their generation, are in receipt of benefits. Our generation were fortunate indeed in that there were plenty of jobs, not the case now.

I won't even get drawn into the argument as to whether we should/shouldn't drive. In recent years we've undergone advanced driving courses to update our skills and we do get our eyesight checked every year - free.

BTW I don't think my DH would be able to cope with the bouncing-about that you get on buses, certainly not since his spinal surgery last month. He finds that the driving-seat is comfortable and supportive to his back. A bus seat would not be comfortable at all!

I never assumed anything of the the sort about your family and I not know why you think I would be interested in them. I made reference to young people being able to get benefits that they are can live on and indeed this Lib/Con are always saying we want everyone that can work to do so.

I am not slightest interested in your family and cannot think why you think I would be making reference to them as they are no concern to me at all and this is not forum is about them at all and I do not know why you made reference about them on here.


As for young people being unfortunate today, do you think any of them would do the same work that OAP’s did when they were younger, I think not. They come out of uni and think they are going to walk into a well-paid job, but guess what…. there are no well-paid jobs about and they do not like to take what is on offered for them.

So they should stay on benefits, which BTW were not available to most OAP’s when they were younger. For most OAP's back then it was take any work available or go hungry. Nowadays young healty people do not want to take jobs in pound land shops and is taking the DWP to human rights court to try and get themselves excluded from taking menial work that is beneath their qualifications.

As for getting eye test free there are also free eye tests for people with certain inherited eye condition, it is not just OAP's it is also free for others as well. Eye tests are very cheap in itself, it is the lenses and frames is where the money goes.

I am sure the bus would not be comfortable at all for some frail OAP's and there are lots of us around that do not use the bus passes for that reason alone. So why is there such a big hoo-ha about the few that need to use them to get around if there is transport available where they live.

BTW please do not feel that you have to answer this post as nobody wants your blood-pressure to get any higher from reading posts on here.

MABLE

Its not helpful when you have some goby pensioners shouting to all and sundry they use their £200 WFA for Christmas presents. We rely on ours and keeps us in coal for the winter.

Also we never used the bus pass because we have bikes and a car. Also enjoy walking and thats the reason we returned them.

pollypenny

If someone used their heating allowance for Christmas presents, it's probably because of the time it was paid.

Most people pay utilities by D/D - should they parcel out the heating allowance?

Basically it goes into the pot.

Roger1

MABLE wrote: »

... goby ...

:huh: Apparently some kind of small fish. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goby

Its not helpful when you have some goby pensioners shouting to all and sundry they use their £200 WFA for Christmas presents.

I don't know whether I'm part of 'all and sundry', but I haven't heard of any 'goby' pensioners (or any other kind) shouting anything of the kind.

Also we never used the bus pass because we have bikes and a car. Also enjoy walking and thats the reason we returned them.

Well, bully for you. So you applied for the bus pass to start with and then sent it back? So you incurred public subsidy, then? Perhaps you'll do better next time. If you don't want one, you don't need to apply and will do your bit to help the Chancellor reduce bankers' tax from 50% to 45% marginal rate. After all, 'we're all in this together'.

dzug1

teajug wrote: »

Busses would run empty after rush hour and why stop OAP's using them as the buses will be using up fuel anyway being running half empty which makes no sense at all.

No they wouldn't run empty - they wouldn't run at all. The government is quite happy to see bus passes stay (after all it's only a bit of admin work) but less happy with providing local councils with sufficient funds to subsidise the buses the passes would be used on.

So they get a PR victory on keeping the passes but quietly save the cash anyway