Workfare for Pensioners?

[David Johnson]

In an extremist environment you always get weird and dangerous people crawling out of the woodwork floating various "spiffing ideas".

This one takes some beating.

Lord Bichard, a former Benefits Chief, who retired at 54 and has a pension of about ?120K a year, sits as a peer on a committee investigating demographic changes and their impact on public services.

The good Lord, who as you can see from the link below looks rather like a Nazi war criminal stated:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20044862

We are now prepared to say to people who are not looking for work, if you don't look for work you don't get benefits, so if you are old and you are not contributing in some way or another maybe there is some penalty attached to that."

He asked: "Are we using all of the incentives at our disposal to encourage older people not just to be a negative burden on the state but actually be a positive part of society?"

This got me thinking about other uses we could make of pensioners:

1. Those who were sick and couldn't work in return for their pensions could be converted into firelighters. I do find it difficult to light a coal fire with the poor quality newsprint produced today.

2. When you get large puddles outside the shops and you don't want to get your feet wet, pensoners could be laid down in the puddles so you can step on them and keep your feet dry.

3. Often there isn't anywwhere to tie your dog when you go to the shops. Perhaps pensioners could be stationed at various points in the High Street so you can attach the lead to the pensioner while you go off and do some shopping.

Can forumites think of any other ideas so that pensioners could be more productive members of society?

[andy at handiwork]

I sometimes wonder what parallel universe such unpleasant folk as Bichard leak over from.

[Mysteryman]

Last week when the story came out in the Daily Depress he rushed a statement to the TV stations that had picked up on the story and said he had not said what was reported but was quoting some ideas at a meeting.

[number 6]

Just when you think these bastards can't stoop any lower.....

[number 6]

the tory universe

[Flat_Eric]

David Johnson wrote:

> Perhaps pensioners could be stationed at various
> points in the High Street so you can attach the lead to the
> pensioner while you go off and do some shopping.
>
> Can forumites think of any other ideas so that pensioners could
> be more productive members of society?



Maybe take the dog idea a step further, give them those "doggie poop bags" and put them to work as "dog-log-cleaner-uppers"?

- Eric

[Zorro]

I hate this kind of post, if you read the article it is full of:

"could be encouraged to do community work"

Please note the could

again

"It is quite possible, for example, to envisage a world where civil society is making a greater contribution to the care of the very old, and older people who are not very old could be making a useful contribution to civil society in that respect, if they were given some incentive or some recognition for doing so."

Please note quite possible, for example, envisage a world ... could .. given some incentive or some recognition for doing so.

There is a big difference from sound bites from a brain storming session to actual policy.

David Johnson I expected better from you.

[andy at handiwork]

I have to ask, why the fuck should they be subjected to threats after a life of, in the VAST majority of cases, productive labour and contribution to the well being of society? This sort of Nasty-Tory shit, from Bichard and his ilk, makes me puke.

[Zorro]

What threats?

[andy at handiwork]

Threats to any state benefits to which in any decent society they are entitled.