Research by the Daily Telegraph this year 2010-

[ivanhoe]

Deaths among the elderly leapt by up to a fifth amid the longest spell of bitter weather in recent years, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Opposition parties described the picture painted by the figures as a ?national disgrace?, warning that many elderly people ""are suffering in silence"", afraid to turn up the heating in a winter, often missing out on extra winter payments.

Preliminary figures show that 1,506 deaths were registered in Scotland in the first week of January, 21 per cent above the average for the corresponding week over last five years.

Temperatures plunged as low as -22.3C (-8F) in the Highlands during the same week and averaged -3.2C (26F) across Scotland.

In England and Wales, the most recent data available shows that deaths of older people rose by up to 17 per cent between Christmas and New Year, even before the worst of the bitter weather began to take its toll.

Some 9,455 deaths were registered in the week from Christmas Day to New Year?s Day ? three per cent higher than the average for the time of year but up 10 per cent on the previous week.

Among over 65s it represents a 12 per cent rise week-on-week and as much as 17 per cent among those aged 75 to 84, of whom just over 3,000 died in a week.

Previous years have seen a steady fall in deaths over the Christmas period rather than a rise.

Figures for England and Wales in first two weeks of January are not yet available but there are fears that they could be even worse and some local registrars indicated that there could be a backlog of unregistered deaths because of disruption caused by the snow.

?I believe this is the first indication that winter deaths are going to increase dramatically this year? said Neil Duncan-Jordan, national officer of the National Pensioners? Convention.

?It is a scandal that winter deaths in this country are on the increase, it raises the question how can we call ourselves civilised if we are still allowing this sort of thing to happen in the 21st Century.?

Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrat pensions spokesman, said: ?The shocking thing is that it is not inevitable that a cold snap creates carnage.

?It doesn?t have to be like this but we muddle along with far too many pensioners in fuel poverty, it is hardly surprising that the cold takes its toll.?

Greg Clark, the Tory Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister, said: ?The number of pensioners living in fuel poverty is estimated to have quadrupled in the last five years, despite Labour having promised to abolish fuel poverty among pensioners completely by 2010.?

Despite a recent decline in swine flu cases, commentators said that the figures pointed to one of the worst winter death rates in living memory.

Last year 36,700 more people died during the winter months than in the summer the worst level for almost a decade.

But there are predictions that this year as many as 45,000 people could die this winter.

Andrew Harrop, Head of Public Policy for Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: ?These figures are extremely worrying and certainly suggest that the additional death toll due to exceptionally cold weather this winter is likely to top last year's total of 36,700 people.

?Last year 2.7 million pensioner households were living in fuel poverty and this year, with energy bills still high and the cold weather forcing people to heat their homes for longer, we fear the numbers of people living in fuel poverty will escalate.?

II copied and pasted this article because I want you all to read it.

I believe most cynically, that we have all been brainswashed into self interest in this country to such a degree, that our pensioners welfare is non existent, and if I were an MP I would say the same.

Everybody wants to know "what's in it for them" ?

Factually we just do not revere our elderly people in Britain, wheras they do on the continent where state pensions are higher, and non means tested concessions are available to all their pensioners, and these concessions are paid for by their government's.

In Britain since the 80's Tory Government's a mammoth rich and poor devide was spawned / created, and New Labour made it wider by sticking to Tory policies.

We now have three classes, we have an underclass on benefits, we have a middle class who in my view have largely been brainwashed into "number 1" thinking, and we have an upperclass elite, including right wing policians including this coaltion who just love us fighting amongst ourselves.

While the very generation who fought for this country, and younger pensioners are forgotten within a very self centred Britain.