OLD AGE PENSIONS
Unlike some, I have no wish to insult Michael Thompson of Link-age. He puts his case ably, and I admire his commitment and persistence, but I do think he has a bit of a bee in his bonnet about state pensions.
The state pension was never designed to keep people in the manner they may have been accustomed to, but merely to provide a decent basic minimum income.
To say that in Italy, pensioners receive 85% of their final salary, while in Britain, it amounts to only 15% of GNP is a misleading statistic. Many British people in low paid work find that they are actually better off on pensions and associated benefits than when working. I have American pensioner friends who are highly envious of our relatively generous system
As the proportion of the population of pensionable age rises, that must mean that the proportion working and paying taxes for those pensions is falling, and it is unreasonable to expect families on low incomes struggling to get a home together to pay even more in tax than they already do.
After the last election, Mr. Thompson complained bitterly about apathy towards his cause. Apathy is brought about by lack of strong feeling; in other words most pensioners are not too unhappy with their lot.
The recent pensioners conference, which Mr. Thompson said was ignored by the news media, failed to inspire editors with the interest or newsworthiness of the subject.
The country does not owe us pensioners anything. We did not give our services to the nation for nothing, we sold them for wages and salaries appropriate at that time.
Finally, if their is any spare cash lying around, I would rather see it spent ending childhood poverty, for they are our future.
