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Bus passes etc.

(108 Posts)
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nog50 Sat 14-Dec-13 17:00:13

Is anyone else concerned about George Osborne's threat to discontinue our free bus passes and also the winter fuel payment? I'm very worried about this. Does he think that life stops for us when we retire? Most of us are still very active, enjoying our freedom from work, going places and spending time with family and friends. The state pension is so abysmal that if these 'perks' are stopped we won't be able to afford to go anywhere (and I'm not talking about holidays, I'm talking about getting on the bus to go shopping or to another town to see our grandchildren!). Of course these benefits aren't really perks because we've worked hard for 45 or more years, paid into the system just to get what we are entitled to. Are we doomed to sit at home day in day out until we curl up and die, I think that is what George wants then the pensions bill won't be so big! It's time that he got into the real world, he should be made to live on a basic state pension for 6 months with no help, then see how he manages! We don't all have private or company pensions to supplement our state pension. Sorry for ranting but it makes my blood boil! smile

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dollie Sun 12-Jan-14 13:38:58

thanks mollie i wondered why the link wouldnt work...

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POGS Sun 12-Jan-14 16:04:36

Labours Rachael Reeves confirmed today at an interview with Dermot Murnaghan. that Labour will do as the conservatives say and keep the pension triple lock but Labour will seriously be looking at wealthy pensioners and WFA. Also I have heard Chuka Umuna say the same.

She actually stated 'Richest should not get WFA'

They will all look at it after the next election..

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dollie Sun 12-Jan-14 16:22:39

will be interesting to see who they class as 'richest' ....will those who arent on benefits be put in that category do you think...

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glammanana Sun 12-Jan-14 17:28:30

I shouldn't think so dollie will probably be higher tax bands and those with over a reasonable amount in savings,and I'm sure that these people can manage without bus passes and WFA as previously stated.

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Gracesgran Wed 15-Jan-14 07:52:56

I have to agree with FlicketyB when she says that tax rates and thresholds for working and retired should be the same. The other side of the coin is that we should have a "living pension" in the same way that working people have a minimum wage. This is obviously the direction they are moving in with the taxes but there doesn't seem much hope of ridding ourselves of the need for additional benefits.

Surely it would save huge amounts of administration costs if money benefits such as WFA were rolled into the pension. The one area that I think is different is the bus pass. It is self-selective in that, if you are not going to use it you don't apply for it and it has a very big effect on keeping older people as part of the community. Certainly, until the basic pension is a "living" one I think bus passes should be retained.

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ps Sat 01-Mar-14 09:17:07

I see that the bus pass issue is headline news this morning so it would appear that the argument is reaching the stage where the decision (which was probably made months or years ago) will slowly be sold to the public prior to implementation day.

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annodomini Sat 01-Mar-14 09:47:33

Well, I am suspicious that this is being floated now, about a year before the next General Election. It's a well-known political ploy to say that something is in danger and then, hey presto! A rabbit comes out of the hat saying, 'Look, we've saved your bus passes from the dastardly Treasury'. I've seen it done on a local level with varying degrees of success.

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