Chancellor statement

[baz1]

Having had time to reflect on the Government's decision, I feel that it is a little too draconian to be too acceptable. Possibly a little more friendly, without costing too much money, would have been to continue the payments to the over 80's, [me]
giving them an alternative to opt out of the payment if they wish. This group is particularly vulnerable in winter, and probably need more care and attention with heating bills, because they will tend to be in their houses more than the younger of us.

I would opt out of it, because my health and circumstances are fine. Maybe the Government would change their minds on this and modify it but I'm not going to hold my breath!.

yes and would think to stop winter payments for the elderly may well put pressure on the NHS.

[plmc135]

The Labour manifesto stated that there would be no increase in taxes.

But now we are being told "Oh yes there will". One easy one is to add on to the price of petrol/diesel all the increases that the previous Government decided to freeze. That would be popular, not, as it would be a very significant increase in price per litre. Make sure you fill up on 29/10.

[slogen51]

100% agree with Baz above - it is Draconian but it seems the Government need the money from pensioners to pay junior doctors and teachers a pay rise otherwise they would leave the service and do what? Drive vans for Amazon.

(The Government distinguishing between Junior doctors and the rest of 'NHS workers' is different )

It's not a vote loser because apparently most pensioners vote Tory or Liberal according to the media - is that really true?

I thought labour said they were going to 'slash' fuel poverty ? So cutting the winter fuel allowance for people who don't claim benefits or are just above the pension credit? Allowance. Remember a lot of people don't claim benefits they are probably entitled to.

People are saying things need to change - deliberately making pensioners poorer is a change for sure but like I said before pensioners are not in a trade union.

[XWP29]

100% agree with Baz above - it is Draconian but it seems the Government need the money from pensioners to pay junior doctors and teachers a pay rise otherwise they would leave the service and do what? Drive vans for Amazon.

(The Government distinguishing between Junior doctors and the rest of 'NHS workers' is different )

It's not a vote loser because apparently most pensioners vote Tory or Liberal according to the media - is that really true?

I thought labour said they were going to 'slash' fuel poverty ? So cutting the winter fuel allowance for people who don't claim benefits or are just above the pension credit? Allowance. Remember a lot of people don't claim benefits they are probably entitled to.

People are saying things need to change - deliberately making pensioners poorer is a change for sure but like I said before pensioners are not in a trade union.

With the former head of HMRC as an advisor,probably with a gold plated civil service pension this is just the start, Labour have declared war on the modest pensioners of the U.K.
Taking away the winter fuel payment from pensioners with a very modest income of £11450 is Dickensian and plain wrong.

[James Cutting]

It's all well and good slating the changes but not really much coming forwards of new ideas of what else should be done.

We're in this state thanks to the last 14 years of rubbish from the Tories. So obviously cuts will need to be made, and taxes raised (at some point) to start building back up some of the money lost. Can't just pluck money out of thin air.

If only we got that £350m a week back after 2016...

[Sparts99]

Having had time to reflect on the Government's decision, I feel that it is a little too draconian to be too acceptable. Possibly a little more friendly, without costing too much money, would have been to continue the payments to the over 80's, [me]
giving them an alternative to opt out of the payment if they wish. This group is particularly vulnerable in winter, and probably need more care and attention with heating bills, because they will tend to be in their houses more than the younger of us.

I would opt out of it, because my health and circumstances are fine. Maybe the Government would change their minds on this and modify it but I'm not going to hold my breath!.

Good solution.

[slogen51]

I agree wholeheartedly - cuts do need to be made - I believe in 'small government ' - Government that does not overly interfere with out daily life - this is where the COVID furlough scheme went against everything that is Tory but that in hindsight is an easy thing to say - at the time the whole world was dealing with an unknown quantity - a pandemic that could have mutated and killed everyone not just the elderly - nobody knew a vaccine would be forthcoming - thanks largely to British research

But getting back on topic I think the cuts should not start with pensioners who cannot increase their income. I am not an economist so not sure of the best route - borrowing for capital projects can be justified - that's what most G8 countries do.

To pay for government paid workers NHS , council, teachers etc is expensive and well worth it if you get good productivity returns so I would be looking for improvement in productivity in return for a 22% pay increase

[steamy]

I don't see the issue with it.... benefits should be means tested, not simply handed out. If someone has the means to pay for their own heat, should they not do so?

Coming from the opposite side of retirement (which is a long way yet) .... we have it drilled into us to make sure we have our private pension sorted, don't think of just depending on the state when you get old, as it won't be enough to sustain you, unless you have good savings/pension (which is another ballache to try an save for on top of trying to afford house/childcare/general cost of living)....

Bearing in mind this was/is posturing coming from people over the years who are, or close to pension age.

Feels like a "what's good for the goose" scenario for me.

[steamy]

Oh dear, how are those trips to Greece, Germany, RIAT and elsewhere going to be funded now

[steamy]

Having had time to reflect on the Government's decision, I feel that it is a little too draconian to be too acceptable. Possibly a little more friendly, without costing too much money, would have been to continue the payments to the over 80's, [me]
giving them an alternative to opt out of the payment if they wish. This group is particularly vulnerable in winter, and probably need more care and attention with heating bills, because they will tend to be in their houses more than the younger of us.

I would opt out of it, because my health and circumstances are fine. Maybe the Government would change their minds on this and modify it but I'm not going to hold my breath!.

yes and would think to stop winter payments for the elderly may well put pressure on the NHS.

at least there'll be happier doctors ad nurses there to help them

[XWP29]

It's all well and good slating the changes but not really much coming forwards of new ideas of what else should be done.

We're in this state thanks to the last 14 years of rubbish from the Tories. So obviously cuts will need to be made, and taxes raised (at some point) to start building back up some of the money lost. Can't just pluck money out of thin air.

If only we got that £350m a week back after 2016...

Sticking to the topic and the point raised in this thread, pensioners on little more than £11450 on the state pension will not be eligible for the winter fuel payment and that is plainly wrong.

[steamy]

Also worth noting.... the cut would mean between £100-£300 pounds lost to a pensioner (they still get the cost of living allowance currently).

Considering energy rates are going down and are expected to be close to half the costs of last Winter's tariffs. If they were technically using this to actually pay for energy, they may only be out of pocket roughly half if this, this Winter (£50-£150). Which in worst case scenario, is being down £12.50 a month when averaged out.

[James Cutting]

The Energy Price cap is predicted to rise 10%, it seems.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/lates ... ent=1#hiya

[steamy]

The Energy Price cap is predicted to rise 10%, it seems.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/lates ... ent=1#hiya

There goes my point

Get shopping around and lock in, pensioners !

[baz1]

there is only one person who i would trust with money and he is Not an MP ( Martin Lewis)

[baz1]

The Energy Price cap is predicted to rise 10%, it seems.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/lates ... ent=1#hiya

There goes my point

Get shopping around and lock in, pensioners !

been there done that

[raptor9]

What us oldies really don't want is the Interest Rate to drop, so that we can't make so much readies on our investments!!!. [this is tongue in cheek by the way!.], but relevant to some. Best advice I EVER had was buy what you can pay for and stay out of debt!!.

[TealRain]

The Energy Price cap is predicted to rise 10%, it seems.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/lates ... ent=1#hiya

There goes my point

Get shopping around and lock in, pensioners !

It does indeed. If someone is already on a fixed older fixed higher rate, I don't know of one provider (happy to be proved wrong) that does not have an exit fee (EG OVO £75) to be able to take advantage of the current price drop mid way through a contract.

[XWP29]

The Energy Price cap is predicted to rise 10%, it seems.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/lates ... ent=1#hiya

There goes my point

Get shopping around and lock in, pensioners !

It does indeed. If someone is already on a fixed older fixed higher rate, I don't know of one provider (happy to be proved wrong) that does not have an exit fee (EG OVO £75) to be able to take advantage of the current price drop mid way through a contract.

Octopus, locked in recently and can exit FOC if prices go up in October.

[Pune]

It's all well and good slating the changes but not really much coming forwards of new ideas of what else should be done.

We're in this state thanks to the last 14 years of rubbish from the Tories. So obviously cuts will need to be made, and taxes raised (at some point) to start building back up some of the money lost. Can't just pluck money out of thin air.

If only we got that £350m a week back after 2016...

Finally someone talking sense, 14 years of austerity isn't going away in 3 weeks and something has to give, and like James said if only we had that £350 million a week back.
I'm lucky to have one the so called 'gold plated pensions' but it cost me 11.75 of my salary every month for over 25 years, you get what you pay for in this life.
Keep smiling it's never as bad as you think..