[Politics] The Labour Government

Zeberdi said:

Yep, agree with the point you are making though - it seems grossly unfair that older pensioners are on a lower pension rate than younger pensioners however, they are entitled to pension credits so will at least qualify for the winter fuel allowance - and other means-tested benefits so it’s not all black and white

This is a good article

UK state pensions: are older retirees getting a bad deal?

People who receive the new state pension can get thousands a year more than those on the old basic scheme

www.theguardian.com

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BN41Albion said:

I find it sickening the way the right wing press have covered it - its absolutely a policy that if it were the Tories they would be fully behind as a rational and sensible cut to make - it's more of a Torie policy anyway on the face of it.

Such is the gutter press in this country, though

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Weststander said:

Labour obsessives here would love to pigeon hole this as purely wealthy Daily Mail reading old people. Nothing to see here.

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Bozza said:

I'm not sure what you classify as the right-wing press, but I'm pretty sure I don't consume any of it at all.

Maybe I'm doing you a disservice. Perhaps you are just completely ignorant about what this means.

Let's recap for your benefit...

1. No one is arguing that wealthy pensioners should continue receiving this universal benefit. It needs to be better targeted towards those who do genuinely need it to stay warm through the winter months.

2. Targeting needs to be better than a blunt "If you get pension credits you can continue to receive it, otherwise you can't" That is crass, cruel and creates a cliff-edge. It's akin to saying when you move up from one income tax bracket to another, ALL of your income is taxed at the higher rate, making you poorer.

Read this poor lady's story - https://news.stv.tv/east-central/ed...after-missing-out-on-winter-fuel-payment-by-3 If she'd been £3 worse off, she'd be £300 better off and able to afford more heating. That is fundamentally wrong on any way of reasoning.

She's not alone - there are many tens of thousands of people who sit just above the pensions credit threshold who are losing what, for them, is a signidicant sum of money.

3. Labour didn't conduct an impact analysis of this policy which is, let's be frank, bizarre. Oh, hang on, you mentioned this sounds more like a Tory policy, didn't you. Hold the line caller...

Oh yes, when it was rumoured that the Tories may do this exact thing a few years back, Labour were in absolute uproar about it. And rightly so. It's a pensioner-killer.

And Labour backed up that claim with research that indicated that nearly 4,000 pensioners could lose their lives over winter if they lost the Winter Fuel Allowance. Details here, from the LEFT WING PRESS: https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ce-cuts-puts-4000-lives-at-risk-claims-labour

4. Who knows a lot about the travails of the older population in the UK? Age UK you say? I wonder what they had to say about this. Let's check...

"Cutting the Winter Fuel Payment, with very little notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy choice, and one that will potentially jeopardise the health, as well as the finances, of millions of older people this winter. This is the last thing both they and the NHS need. "

Source: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/our-impact/campaigning/save-the-winter-fuel-payment/#:~:text=Winter Fuel Payment is an,Allowance, or an award of

This isn't some right wing press inspired witch hunt, a fuss over nothing. This is a vicious attack on some of the poorest and some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Proud older people who don't want to ask for handouts, don't want to seek charity and just want to be able to stay warm until spring.

Shame on all those who are allowing this to happen, support it or excuse it.

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Bry Nylon said:

I think most of them seem to be experiencing internet connection issues. Which must be deeply frustrating because for the last few years they’ve been on the political threads non-stop. Odd.

> insert shrug emoji, laugh emoji, wink emoji

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Bozza said:

I'm not sure what you classify as the right-wing press, but I'm pretty sure I don't consume any of it at all.

Maybe I'm doing you a disservice. Perhaps you are just completely ignorant about what this means.

Let's recap for your benefit...

1. No one is arguing that wealthy pensioners should continue receiving this universal benefit. It needs to be better targeted towards those who do genuinely need it to stay warm through the winter months.

2. Targeting needs to be better than a blunt "If you get pension credits you can continue to receive it, otherwise you can't" That is crass, cruel and creates a cliff-edge. It's akin to saying when you move up from one income tax bracket to another, ALL of your income is taxed at the higher rate, making you poorer.

Read this poor lady's story - https://news.stv.tv/east-central/ed...after-missing-out-on-winter-fuel-payment-by-3 If she'd been £3 worse off, she'd be £300 better off and able to afford more heating. That is fundamentally wrong on any way of reasoning.

She's not alone - there are many tens of thousands of people who sit just above the pensions credit threshold who are losing what, for them, is a signidicant sum of money.

3. Labour didn't conduct an impact analysis of this policy which is, let's be frank, bizarre. Oh, hang on, you mentioned this sounds more like a Tory policy, didn't you. Hold the line caller...

Oh yes, when it was rumoured that the Tories may do this exact thing a few years back, Labour were in absolute uproar about it. And rightly so. It's a pensioner-killer.

And Labour backed up that claim with research that indicated that nearly 4,000 pensioners could lose their lives over winter if they lost the Winter Fuel Allowance. Details here, from the LEFT WING PRESS: https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ce-cuts-puts-4000-lives-at-risk-claims-labour

4. Who knows a lot about the travails of the older population in the UK? Age UK you say? I wonder what they had to say about this. Let's check...

"Cutting the Winter Fuel Payment, with very little notice and no compensatory measures to protect poor and vulnerable pensioners, is the wrong policy choice, and one that will potentially jeopardise the health, as well as the finances, of millions of older people this winter. This is the last thing both they and the NHS need. "

Source: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/our-impact/campaigning/save-the-winter-fuel-payment/#:~:text=Winter Fuel Payment is an,Allowance, or an award of

This isn't some right wing press inspired witch hunt, a fuss over nothing. This is a vicious attack on some of the poorest and some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Proud older people who don't want to ask for handouts, don't want to seek charity and just want to be able to stay warm until spring.

Shame on all those who are allowing this to happen, support it or excuse it.

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BN41Albion said:

Well... I can't really argue with any of that. I'll get back in my box; perhaps just basing my opinion on the older folk I know who have absolutely never needed the WFA has made me a bit too closed minded on it all

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Bozza said:

There's a lot of such folk, and you're quite right - they don't need it, and shouldn't get it. As a country we can spend that money on much better things.

But those who do need it still number in the hundreds of thousands, and some are going to be in a desperate state this winter, unless some sort of help can be found for them. Thus far sadly, the government are sticking to their guns, and offering nothing to help these poor souls.

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Thunder Bolt said:

Not all older pensioners. I’m ok but have friends the same age as me, who miss out on Pension credit by £1.50 a week, so therefore miss out on the WFA.

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Bozza said:

unless some sort of help can be found for them

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State pensioners to get £250 Cost of Living payment after Winter Fuel axe

North East Lincolnshire is bringing back its Household Support Fund.

www.birminghammail.co.uk

LamieRobertson said:

Nice bit of Whatsboutery oh and it’s the media to blame

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Pavilionaire said:

It's not whataboutery, it's perspective and realism.

If you are going to 'fire' any leader that accepts a few freebies at £20K a year then you will never get anybody you support to be PM -be they left right or centre.

Given the colossal kick back culture of the last Tory government (PPE contracts being one of many worth hundreds of millions) this is a drop ocean.

If the idea is to present Tory and Labour as being both as bad as each other it is like equating Hitler with Farage, i.e similar shit but on a completely different scale.

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David Lammy accused of diplomatic blunder in Substack blog post​

chip said:

I hadn't heard of David Lammy before. Seems to be doing a good job at the foreign office according to the FT

David Lammy accused of diplomatic blunder in Substack blog post​

UK foreign secretary suggested Azerbaijan had ‘liberated’ the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh


Didn't Boris get off to a similar start?

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borat said:

This feels like a bigger story but doesnt seem to have had the same coverage for some reason.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/labour-given-4m-from-tax-haven-based-hedge-fund-with-shares-in-oil-and-arms/

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Giraffe said:

It’s not going very well is it.

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Nobby said:

If only we had had good ol Nigel in charge eh.

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Bozza said:

There's a lot of such folk, and you're quite right - they don't need it, and shouldn't get it. As a country we can spend that money on much better things.

But those who do need it still number in the hundreds of thousands, and some are going to be in a desperate state this winter, unless some sort of help can be found for them. Thus far sadly, the government are sticking to their guns, and offering nothing to help these poor souls.

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Chicken Run said:

Er no thank you, the electorate in majority voted for a Labour Government, if their performance to date is anything to go by regrettably i’m not sure if that is what they got, it’s going to be a very long 5 years for the fan boys on here!

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