Dinahmo
Cabbie21 I'd just like to point out that those those charities that receive public funding do a lot of work that the govt/state should be doing.
Living in France we don't receive the fuel allowance which is a pity because it's much colder here than most of the UK.
I think it would have been fairer to means test the Allowance, if the Government insisted that taxpayers were not entitled to receive it in a cold country - such as France. And when we lived in Northern France, the winters in our river valley were really cold. But no, it was much easier to get the University of East Anglia to work on the first figures they had arrived at from all the data. All that was needed to push up the average winter temperature was to include data for some of France's hot overseas territories - like Reunion and Martinique - et voilà, France was too 'hot' to warrant any help with heating in winter. This information was given to me some years ago by a sympathetic ear in the relevant Winter Fuel payment department ! As she said, 'madness'. If I usually received it, but didn't need it, then I'd possibly redirect it; but everyone should have that choice.
