IF you survive to 75 years of age you get your television licence free and as the cost of it increases one gets additional benefit. But that is where this government's idea of fairness stops. National insurance pensions increase in line with a contrived cost of living index, which bears little resemblance to financial reality.
It gets worse. In the year 2000 the chancellor introduced an annual payment of £200 for pensioners specifically to help with domestic heating expense. Use the cost of night storage heating as priced by EDF Energy. The cost of one unit of nightstore electricity in 2000 was 2.670p. It is now 4.290p. That is an increase of 60 per cent, but the heating allowance for pensioners has not increased by one penny during that time. If this government acted in a fair way that annual payment would be £320.
How can they treat millions of pensioners in this way? The answer is that they are accustomed to doing it. Seventeen years ago they started to pay me £10 to make my Christmas more enjoyable. In 2006 £10 is still regarded as sufficient to make my Christmas more enjoyable. In February 2004 I was advised that on my 80th birthday my pension would increase by 25p each week! 29 years ago my father got the same letter!
It is almost unbelievable that they think this is OK. The history of it covers periods of government by both the main parties, who still expect us to bother to turn out to vote.
Jack Odgers, Clare Terrace, Falmouth
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