A little graph.

[David Johnson]

Worth keeping in mind that the UK has one of the lowest state pensions in Western Europe despite being the 7th largest economy in the world.

If you start means testing pensions effectively you have totally destroyed the social security system in which the well off in the community pay their taxes like everyone else to help provide pensions for the less well off and in return they get something out of it themselves i.e. a pension, winter fuel allowance, access to the NHS etc.

[Sam Slater]

[quote]There you go lads, the first instalment of Mindless Cliches about UK Old Age Pensioners.[/quote]

It is also a mindless cliche that every pensioner is tucked up under tartan blankets, fighting hypothermia because they can't afford the heating through the winter. You can't hold up one set of cliches as mindless and ignore the opposing cliches.

[Sam Slater]

But topped up with Pension Credits if their income is less than ?145pw. That's three times as much as someone under 25 gets on the dole, double what someone over 25 gets on the dole. A single mother of 4 (single parent + child benefit for 4 children) would get less than a single pensioner on the minimum amount of ?145pw.

It's not an attack on pensioners, but to show that all the ills of the world aren't the fault of the unemployed and single mothers churning out sprogs for the benefits.

I know a couple who have two kids, both work, and they don't have ?145pw to spend after tax, travel to work, mortgage and the bills. And they're a family of 4. It's crazy, really.

[Gentleman]

And of course tackle those not paying taxes..but problem is with that is that their ones feeding the political parties.

[David Johnson]

Agreed, but I don't state that.

[David Johnson]

"It's not an attack on pensioners, but to show that all the ills of the world aren't the fault of the unemployed and single mothers churning out sprogs for the benefit"

I know that. It is worth pointing out that the coalition have 3 distractions to the real causes of the UK problems by:

1. Setting the employed against the unemployed.
2. Setting private sector workers against public sector workers.
3. Setting non-OAPs against OAPs.

OAPs who saved throughout their lives have already had an almighty kicking from the government engineered drop in interest rates for ISAS, bonds etc but in addition the government are softening the public up to accept a ferocious attack on pensioners, probably in the next parliament.

[David Johnson]

"You can't hold up one set of cliches as mindless and ignore the opposing cliches."

Oh yes I can. It's called providing balance to the 80-90% Tory owned newspaper media.

[Gentleman]

Maybe it's just unfortunate that the only ones I come into contact with are the impoverished ones.

[Sam Slater]

Divide and conquer, yes. Why does such an obvious and old trick like that always work?

[Sam Slater]

Being fair, I had to point that out because it's a cliche, regardless.