Welcome to PensionersForum.co.uk

[marion]

Hi Chris and everyone out there in Cyberland

I am just getting my head around the fact that I will finally be retiring this summer and decided that it was time to make new links. My New Year's resolution was 'to join' - so here goes

[Papaumau]

Hi Marion...Come on in, the water's fine !

Being a feminist, ( not all feminists are wimmin BTW ), I think that - like in many other places - Britain needs more input from the ladies.

[charlie gracie]

We pensioners will never ever get the pension we deserve, whatever political
party is in power, The reason being we are a drain on the economy,
In Europe they still realise it was people like us that  after the war, went to school
learnt how read and write, add up multiply and divide, went out to work and
rebuilt Our  countries, And Their governments give their pensioners a decent standard of living,
IN BRITAIN to  our much of the same ilk politicians, pensioners are  expendable,Politicians
 are only interested in themselves and how much money they can make,
just look at Blair, and the millions he has made! conniving and lieing his way through life.

[Hugh]

Hi Chris and everyone out there in Cyberland

I am just getting my head around the fact that I will finally be retiring this summer and decided that it was time to make new links. My New Year's resolution was 'to join' - so here goes

Hi Marion
              Glad you have joined us whats your plans when you retire. Its so easy to get stuck in front of a TV or computer and wasted away like many retired folk do, which is a shame, because it should be the start of the most enjoyable part of your life.

[Ivanhoe]

We pensioners will never ever get the pension we deserve, whatever political
party is in power, The reason being we are a drain on the economy,
In Europe they still realise it was people like us that  after the war, went to school
learnt how read and write, add up multiply and divide, went out to work and
rebuilt Our  countries, And Their governments give their pensioners a decent standard of living,
IN BRITAIN to  our much of the same ilk politicians, pensioners are  expendable,Politicians
 are only interested in themselves and how much money they can make,
just look at Blair, and the millions he has made! conniving and lieing his way through life.



A brilliant posting, but please explain how pensioners are a "drain" on the British economy

[Papaumau]

There is no doubt that the pensioners ARE a drain on the economy - as any spending direction must be.

What WE need to get across to "them" is that this particular "drain" has earned it's place in the spending policies of the government, ( ANY government ), by having contributed to the British economy for sixty or more years, by fighting wars for this country, paying all of the taxes asked of us and by generally being lifetime good citizens of this country.

As I have said here and in many other places in the past...."The level of civilisation of any country is measured by how it treats it's weak, it's old, it's sick and it's poor"

Britain does NOT stack up very well in this measurement criteria.

The powers-that-be in this country should be made to be ashamed of this record so that they do something to ameliorate this situation.

[Ivanhoe]

Papaumau, This "drain on the economy" is a myth, when means testing pensioners for state handouts is costing more of tax payers money than the restoration of the earnings link would cost.

A decent state pension would "aid" the British economy by giving pensioners spending power,  but of course "the right" dont want that do they, because inflation would increase, and this is the real reason behind Britain's low State pension, inflation.

[Papaumau]

Sorry Ivanhoe, but I cannot agree with you on that point !

If it was "inflation" that was restricting the state pension we would have no complaint as inflation-rates have been running in single and less than single figures for years.

The reason they do not give the pensioners a decent state pension in Britain is because "they" just don't want to spend the money in that direction !

If the British state pension was a priority-spend it's cost would come off the top of the revenue-pile BEFORE any money was allocated to any of the other cabinet offices.

It is NOT a "priority" spend and that is why it is held down as low as they think they can get away with. 

[Ivanhoe]

Papaumau, Sorry you are wrong, and ille add this,-

The State pension is also being phased out, and means testing is costing more.

Add to this the National Insurance "surplus" set to be £74.1 billion in 2012.

And to give 12 million pensionersa more money without means testing them for it, would indeed be inflationary.

[Papaumau]

They could not get away with "phasing out" the state pension as every country has to have a basic state pension that is in the modern world.

They WILL try to find excuses for not paying what they should but what all these arguments are about is why they should not spend the money they certainly do have - in that specific direction.

They try to blame us for living longer. They try to blame us for not saving for private pensions. They try to say that we have not paid enough into the national insurance pot. They try to con us into thinking that we are an unwarranted "drain" on the country's resources but those of us that know better know that we have a RIGHT to a decent pension purely on the fact that we have been hard-working citizens for a lifetime.

I do not accept their excuses and neither should anyone else !

[Ivanhoe]

I dont accept their excuses, I fight them all the way, the real problem we have in Britain is if only the majority coud see it, that right wing politics has run Britain since the 80's, and right wing politics does not believe in the "role of the state".

Which means investment into our public services, ie post offices, the NHS ect, and the State pension.

Right wing politics is all about "self", and not, ha ha, society.

[Papaumau]

Yes, and, herein lies the rub....

The Tories have always stood for "smaller" government and they have always wanted to privatise as much of the essential public services as they have thought they could get away with. This policy is bound to rear it's ugly head very soon again. I doubt if the Lib Dem partners in the coalition will have enough power to temper the more rabid of the historically-extreme right-wing thinking in this respect.

( Sadly the New-Labourites carried forward many of these Toryesque policies during their last term of office ).

While the profit motive DOES have it's place in any Capitalist "society" there are times when it should NEVER be allowed to interfere with the quality of these essential services.

[Ivanhoe]

Yes, and, herein lies the rub....

The Tories have always stood for "smaller" government and they have always wanted to privatise as much of the essential public services as they have thought they could get away with. This policy is bound to rear it's ugly head very soon again. I doubt if the Lib Dem partners in the coalition will have enough power to temper the more rabid of the historically-extreme right-wing thinking in this respect.

( Sadly the New-Labourites carried forward many of these Toryesque policies during their last term of office ).

While the profit motive DOES have it's place in any Capitalist "society" there are times when it should NEVER be allowed to interfere with the quality of these essential services.

Precisely.

[Handyman Andy]

Hi everyone 

Andy junior has recently been teaching me the ways of the internet and this is the very first forum I've joined.  Apologies in advance if I seem a little bit awkward

[Ivanhoe]

Hi H/A, I presume you support the pensioners cause as I do, and im not a pensioner ?