Bus passes etc.

ps I agree and also we are not dying in the large numbers that would be preferred as that would save money.

That 1% who run the show are doing a great job aren't they - pitting pensioner against pensioner, young against old, employed against unemployed, etc., etc.

Instead of turning on each other, perhaps we should turn our attention to those on high who throw a firecracker into the crowd and look down, laughing.

Thanks to everyone who joined in this discussion, I hope you all have a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Let's hope that Scrooge Osborne gets a big box of goodwill and change of heart from Santa (don't hold your breath!) Or will he still be saying 'Bah, humbug' in 2014?

If the government didn't give out so much overseas aid they might be able to help their own people who are in need, like the blind lady on Sky News who has had all her home help cut and feels very lonely because of this. It's a disgrace.

ninny Do you read the Daily Mail by any chance?

I saw the item on Sky News about the blind lady who has no assistance whatsoever at home, but I don't blame this situation on what is paid out in overseas aid. I blame it on a government that is in hock to big business and wealthy individuals, protecting their interests rather than the interests of the majority.

Good point Eleothan

nelliemoser you obviously do!

Nonnie Not if I can help it. With that and the Daily Express I rather find their Anti-foreigner and anti-sponger attitudes rather over the top. Both papers seem to have a way of presenting these issues that is full of prejudice and short on any accurate statistics.

Ninny as had been said many times before on GN, overseas aid is not really a handout, more an oiling of the wheels of trade.

The UK expects a return, in the end.

Nog 50

Why do you only think George Osborne is looking at this subject?

Labour have said that pension benefits such as bus passes etc. will go if they win the next election. They keep using the mantra 'Labour will be tougher on welfare' don't they. Rachael Reeves and Ed Balls are always banging on about it for heavens sake.

Lib Dems are 'probably' going to do the same.

Conservatives will keep them 'probably' up to the next election.

After the next election I think some of the benefits will be means tested by the government 'of whichever colour'.

POGS

Because he is the man holding the purse strings at the moment and he is the one who brought this up in the first place. No matter who is the 'money man' in the future they are all the same, pensioners who have paid NI contributions for 40+ years seem to come a long way down the list when it comes to any sort of help. As suggested, means testing could be a fair option.

On the Andrew Marr show this morning the PM hinted at the end of Universal Benefits for pensioners and glossed over the fact by adding that the value of the state pension will be protected and rise with the consumer price index or 2.5% annually. I believe the writing is on the wall and we, pensioners, are the next target so be prepared for the divide and rule onslought that the propoganda machine in Whitehall will no doubt be starting. I give it 5 years. It seems we as a society readily accept the excuse that we, as a nation, cannot afford it. I would ask - why? Why not fix the reasons that lead to the assumption that we cannot afford it in order that we can. Perhaps that will need decisions which do not fit well with the ideology as it is often the case that hitting the easy target is a quick fix solution whereas trying to get Banks and Globalised industries to pay up their fair share in order to balance the books is far too difficult and expensive.

So he's assuming that the state pension is enough to live on, then? If a vast chunk of the population only have just enough money to survive on a lot of industries will soon feel the effects. It isn't as if any extra money just goes up in smoke; it's spent on consumer items.

It seems the press releases, ministerial and party lines to follow are highlighting 3 protectors in % increase in wages, consumer price index or 2.5% whichever is the greater. Pity they discounted the retail price index. In addition I note the mantra of "giving our pensioners dignity and security in their old age" will, I suspect, be repeated ad nauseum over the next 24 hours or until another significant announcement takes priority.

No, I do not think that is what he means. I suspect what he means is that what are now universal benefits will be means tested and those older people with total incomes above a certain level will have them phased out.

I would willingly swap all the bells and whistles given to us so paternally by the government for a one-off rise in the state pension to compensate for them. if they were means tested I wouldn't bother to apply for them. All I get is the winter fuel payment. I do not have a bus pass as I cannot travel on buses because I get travel sick.

If bus passes where withdrawn I think the bus companies would offer special concession tickets to older people, just as the railways do with the Senior Citizen Rail Card. Older people provide a good off peak customer load and they couldn't do without them.

This makes me so cross - not only have women of my age (60) now got to wait a lot longer for our State Pension now it looks as though we may not get the WFP or bus pass either - fuming

i too do not have a bus pass as i get sick if i travel on a bus or coach

scrapping the bus pass would only really affect those living in big cities especially London where public transport is very good. In rural areas buses would probably cease to run - which would be very hard to lose the one or 2 buses a day for those who do not or cannot drive.
As far as free prescriptions are concerned - pensioners like others only use prescriptions when they need them or are prescribed them for health reasons - often for life-threatening conditions. Like an old car - we need to be maintained. And other groups of people (children and those on benefits get free prescriptions, glasses etc) - no-one chooses to have prescriptions for fun. As someone said a true reflection of a society is how it treats it's weakest members - or something like that.
the sad thing is people will turn even more on pensioners and accuse us of being parasites because they think we all have index linked, final salary pensions, 2 cruises a year and holiday homes. I wish
I know some people give their winter fuel payment to charity while others use it to buy a case of wine. But there are those like me (and many other single pensioners) who use it to help pay about a fifth of their energy bills and still feel the cold (we are old and the blood has thinned)

nannymoocow - I'm in the unfortunate group of losers too as regards the state pension. I'd always assumed that when I turn 60 and my DH turns 65 within 4 days of each other in January 1915, we'd both be retiring. It's a bit depressing to think that he will, but I will just be embarking on another 6 long working years. And of course he got his bus pass when he turned 60 and I won't get mine till I'm 66, should it still be available then.

I found out today that those who live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland still get their passes at 60 though.

I'm sure the powers that be think there are good economic reasons for all of this, though I can't see it (for instance, surely it costs more to pay benefits to an unemployed person with a family rather than letting me have my basic pension at 60 and letting him or her have my job?). But it's difficult not to feel just a little bit irked when you've already paid enough NI contributions to be eligible for the full pension...

And that should of course read January 2015, not 1915 - now that just proves I'm going senile and shouldn't have to carry on working!

This makes interesting reading regarding bus passes; remember though that the figures mentioned include ALL concessionary travel (people with disabilities etc.) and not just older people.
www.agewatch.org.uk/ageing/concessionary-bus-travel-in-th/

It is interesting, particularly in relation to the physical and psychological benefits of free travel to those older people who would otherwise be isolated and inactive. Surely these will be taken into account for their financial worth (savings to health service and social care providers, etc) if nothing else, when the subject's debated by the decision makers.

Maggiemaybe I don't blame you for being irked. The rug has been pulled on all your dreams of having quality time together. 6 years is a long time. It's not fair. My sister is in the same boat and she is furious.

People who haven't yet reached retirement age have a tendency to think that as soon as you reach that magic age, you no longer need anything apart from the minimal amount of food, but nothing else. Well, as you all have realised, we are all active, but most of us financially quite badly off. I have always been of the opinion that extra benefits such as WFA should be universal. Anyone who earns more than the taxfree allowance will pay tax @ 20%, 40% or even 45%, thus repaying the benefit. I am sure the admin costs for meanstesting far outweigh the savings and it is just another political football. I look after my grandchildren and collect them from school thus enabling my children to work. With the cost of childcare, they would find it very hard to afford to work, and this way they all work and pay tax and NI. But I couldn't afford all the travel to and from schools without my bus pass.I am so tired of the most vulnerable in society constantly being attacked. This kind of cut will not pay back the national debt, nor will the bedroom tax and cuts to disabled benefits.