To think that with over 1million pensioners in poverty, removing the WFA makes Labour the nasty party, who tell blatant lies?

[TealTraybake]

And hypocritical lies at that. Just a few months ago Labour ‘vowed to be the party for pensioners’

‘Nearly 1 million people aged over 66 in the UK are living in deprivation, according to government statistics, the highest number since comparable records began.
Labour, which analysed figures from Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) records, has vowed to be the party for pensioners, with plans to insulate millions of homes and reduce energy bills. It has also “committed to retaining” the triple lock which guarantees annual rises to the state pension’

I understand the WFA should be means tested - but the current threshold is far too low. Food prices have gone up. Energy prices have gone up. Some pensioners need that WFA 🥺.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/16/nearly-1m-uk-pensioners-deprivation-official-figures

I think it’s gone already. Earmarked for pay increases for doctors, train drivers etc.

Oh fuck sake the single person council tax discount isn’t being removed. you’re naive if you believe that. They have actively said they’re not ruling it out, which is typically code for “we just need to decide when to remove it.

My parents will lose it, they are broke BUT my silly mother gets the lowest rate pip because she was assessed years ago before she became completely bedbound and reliant on my stepdad. I've told her to ask for a reassessment so it will increase but she can't be bothered so what can you do?

The level of sheer entitlement on this thread is unbelievable.

General consensus seems to be that pensioners are all rich, they don't deserve to own their own home or have a comfortable retirement so "give it to me", "wahh! It's not fair". If someone has a comfortable retirement it's probably because they spent 50years of their life knocking their pan in to achieve it. But they should be expected to give it away to "struggling families"? Piss off.

Honestly, the utter contempt this country seems to have for their aging population is astounding. Leave them alone.

-£11492 vs +£160 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Hardly comparable

And last year they had WFA plus energy support, both gone

And last year the energy prices were about £200 / 9% a year less than now and since then there was a £900 / 6.7% increase in the state pension, with retail prices only about 3% higher since then.

I'm personally not that gung-ho on how they've done this (WFA). There should be a cut off and it would have been nice for it to have been a bit more sophisticated than this. I'd happily support WFA for anyone on less than living wage, especially pensioners. Or even a reduced enery rate for them. But I am also really struggling with the idea that this is going to be the thing that tips pensioners into poverty when the maths - as far as I can tell - seems to suggest they should be a bit better off this year than last, even with this change.

This benefit never should have been a blanket one. It was always going to be unpopular but it absolutely needs correcting. And I know a lot of pensioners who will no longer be in receipt of it who wholeheartedly agree.

The current set of pensioners mostly paid 'their stamp

the problem is, this isn’t true. They’ve paid the required taxation to be eligible. But their tax paid for the pension of the generation before them, to a smaller group and at a much lower level. Today’s workers are paying for a state pension for a much larger cohort and triple locked so its costs a fuck ton more. That’s why all the additional benefits pensioners receive are unaffordable. If it based on what you’d actually ‘paid in’ most pensioners would be getting nowhere near what they get today.

https://archive.ph/2EKss

Starmer refused to publish an impact report, I wonder why?

There will be pensioners suffering from this. The MPs debating in the Commons from all sides covered the reality

I agree with you on the maths, but just for clarity if people are confused, I assume you mean last year energy prices were less than this year, not more.

Are you suggesting that there won't be anyone on under £12k who is feeling scared by this won't be struggling? Or worse

I agree with you on the maths, but just for clarity if people are confused, I assume you mean last year energy prices were less than this year, not more.

I can't see where I said more but yes, I mean less last year than now

No.Years ago benefits weren’t talked about like they are today, of course the pensioners of today claimed benefits.I remember, when l was in school, in the 80’s so many children had dinner tickets(they had their lunch paid for every day) I didn’t know back then, that it was because their parents were on benefits.I was in a small amount of children who had a packed lunch.
Fed up of hearing pensioners, were too proud
never claimed benefits and it’s the younger generation are scrounging! This attitude is causing a divide, because it’s just not true.

So they are going to remove it

I know that whoever is paying in now is supporting pensioners and benefit claimants of today. However the fact is they did pay in whereas many now aren't paying anything and many are receiving a lot in benefits.

Those currently working hard and just getting by are in for a shock. They are paying for today's benefits, they'll be nothing for them if we carry on like this. One of the reasons I've told children to consider moving overseas. Invest in their future where they won't just be a cash cow. This country doesn't value those that work hard and pay their way.

IMO it should be paid to any pensioner whose income is below the NMW or living wage. This would be a fairer cut off point.
@1apenny2apenny
Whats the justification for this though? Those working and earning NMW pay housing costs, their full travel to work, their prescriptions and their energy bills.

Ideally you'd hope there was a sliding scale rather than a simple cut off, but the administration costs would likely mean it didn't save any money.

I think there will be a bigger impact on people who have recently become pensioners. People who retired 20 years ago, would likely have had better occupational pensions.

Yet another person, blaming the younger generation! Pensioners claim benefits too.

Absolutely but people will still blame the tories. Wait until means tested state pension comes out. I’ve heard that’s coming. If the tories were doing this, there would be riots. It’s baffling why there isn’t tbh

There’s already a hell of a lot of discontent

There are 13 million pensioners in the UK, of course the majority of them are going to be pissed off at having an easy benefit cut from
them and now have to pay their full heating bill.
That doesn’t mean it was needed by most of them.

Think you’ll find not just pensioners are unhappy

Pensioners on a low income should apply for council tax support. They don’t need to be getting pension credit. If they rent; they should apply for Housing Benefit. I’m saying this for anyone who might find it helpful.

I agree with those who think the cut off is too low.

I'm only on page 1 but have we had "but they get freebies" and "a lot of them have £1 million homes?" yet?

On threads about disability, housing benefit, universal credit etc you see people saying its not a race to the bottom when someone mentions other demographics struggling. But when it comes to the older generation it's apparently perfectly fine to come out with bollocks like its only fair pensioners get shafted now. Guess thats OK because they'll be dead soon so not getting shafted for too long?

I think it should have been tapered instead of an abrupt cut off. But Reeves made it clear yesterday that working age top ups/handouts and fuel duty would also be targeted in the budget - so I think this is just the start. 🤷‍♀️