I see that both Raynor & Reeves have accepted clothes donation of 5k each and declared it as "office support"..... they really have a total lack of self awareness...... Government of service, more like self service.....
Interesting article... How social media assassination conspiracies are uniting pro- and anti-Trump voters please log in to view this image Image source,BBC / Getty Images Marianna Spring Disinformation and social media correspondent Published 22 September 2024 Wild Mother - the online alias of a woman called Desirée - lives in the mountains of Colorado, where she posts videos to 80,000 followers about holistic wellness and bringing up her little girl. She wants Donald Trump to win the presidential election. About 70 miles north in the suburbs of Denver is Camille, a passionate supporter of racial and gender equality who lives with a gaggle of rescue dogs and has voted Democrat for the past 15 years. The two women are poles apart politically - but they both believe assassination attempts against Mr Trump were staged. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvglm0rjy2go
The Labour announcement on the winter fuel allowance was a bit of a shock and not a little worrying at first, but the more I hear about it the more sense it seems to make. Apparently 27% of pensioners (over 3 million) live in households with assets of over £1m. Do they need the extra £300? Plainly not. The 1.3m poorest pensioners - those on pension credits - will continue to get it, and there are an estimated further 880,000 who are entitled to pension credits but are not claiming them. They are being encouraged to take up the benefit and could be as much as £3,000 per annum better off as a result. Extra staff are being taken on to process the claims. The vast majority of today's pensioners (of which I'm one) have benefitted massively from helpful economic conditions, mainly in house price inflation (fuelled by deliberate under-supply) and really don't need or deserve extra help. Of course the poorest should be protected, but I'm confident they will be.
I have also said this before. I am nowhere near the £1million asset class, but I have always given my winter fuel allowance away to someone who needs it more than I do. Mostly "Shelter" and like charities Yes there are pensioners who do need it...Those who are registered on benefits will still get it automatically,and I hope that with more help others will be able to claim benefits they are entitled too. There will be a few just on the boarder line of benefits ...those people are the ones at risk....I truly would like to know how many there are. Round here there have been sessions set up for pensioners to come and ask for help with energy costs...maybe that can be extended
Pension credit tops up income to the huge sum of £218.15 a week for a single person and £332 for a couple. A person or a couple with an income of £219 or £333 a week clearly won’t miss an extra £300. Especially with the predicted rise in energy costs on the way. When did you start working for the Labour propaganda department? This move punishes thousands on very modest incomes, not just comfortable pensioners like you and Beth. Why not just say anyone on an income of over adult minimum wage (£23,795 gross) doesn’t get the allowance? Not tough enough presumably.
Yes, the threshold should probably have been set higher, but I think that some of the performative outrage over this has been overdone. 2.2 million pensioners will still be entitled to the WFA and the remainder will lose the equivalent of £5.77 a week. This will still be significant for some just above the threshold and they should be able to apply for help from Local Authorities, but, at the end of the day, why should the government be giving £300 gifts to 3m millionaires and probably a further 5 or 6m who, whilst not millionaires, are, like myself, comfortably off?
This is going to sound crass and over-simplified but pensions as we know them probably won’t exist one day. I doubt should I live that long I’ll see one. I appreciate some people have always been and will always be poor but there’s a degree of personal responsibility expected of younger people to save. Surely older people should have been saving in the ‘good’ times (appreciate again they weren’t all that good for everyone). Doesn’t really do anything to help those who are old and poor now but I think that’s the question people will be asking me when I’m an oldiewonk if I’m skint.
Labour and it's supporters still have a problem with perceived wealth.... all these millionaire pensioners..... they might be millionaires due to the value of their house but only have minimum income to live on, you know £330 a week for a couple, just over £17k a year.... the house value doesn't pay the heating bills or put food on the table.... no doubt the answer will be from the socialists "sell the house", easier said than done and why should they? Yes I agree that there are those who are comfortably off shouldn't receive it, Strolls &Beth for example, but it's been an ill conceived policy that looks like it was made on the back of a *** packet targeting a perceived soft touch.... still all these extra civil servants posts to be filled to will probably cost more in wages than is being saved by with drawing the WFA....
Any pensioner owning a property, whatever its value, is not entitled to plead poverty in my opinion. They don't necessarily have to sell their properties, although it would probably help if some did. Money can always be raised from equity release. Or perhaps they should cancel their Netflix subscriptions as they are keen to tell young people, who really are struggling due to ludicrous property prices.
Spoken like a true out of touch socialist.... Say it long enough and loud enough and it becomes the truth.....
