To say the £35k winter fuel threshold is way too high!

[chocolateismyweakness4]

The threshold needed to be raised, but £35k?! I wish I earned that and I have a mortgage and commuting costs. It also doesn’t take into account savings (so they could have millions in the bank) or household income.

We all know it’s a bribe, but they still won’t get pensioners to vote for them.

No, as I have posted on another thread, a report for Parliament in 2020 said that the top ten tax reliefs cost 117 billion pounds. I don’t know why my key board has turned American and puts a hash sign instead of pounds. These are not tax reliefs for the average man in the street. They are for the very wealthy, and eventually, when they get abused too much, the government shuts them down. R & D is a big contentious one, because its so open to fraud.

The government also fails to collect about 5% of the tax take of 731 billion pounds pa. So, I believe its now getting on for 40 billion? HMRC is so short of staff, they are not even looking at small accounts; and they come to “agreements” with big companies.

So, the government is giving away at least 157 billion pa, and its nonsense to talk about one generation taking 1.5 billion off another! Anyway, 50% of the population are net beneficiaries - they are just complaining that they aren’t getting a bigger share of the welfare state, than they would if other net beneficiaries didn’t exist. It just looks like greed?

I think I am going to start complaining about child benefit, schools and children's healthcare. I have no children. Why should my taxes go to pay for other people's life choices?

In reality, I am happy to pay tax towards the well being of the next generation and the generations above me. We all benefit from it, one way or another.

It’s a lot of people though so it adds up and given the state of finances a couple on £70k mortgage free doesn’t need it.

Thanks for sharing, I’ll take a look after work as my lunch break has ended now.

That’s why I like coming on Mumsnet and involving myself in some of these discussions, as don’t always chat politics with friends. I’m really open to people’s points of views and like to understand their reasonings etc.

35k a year in retirement is a lot of money - most people will be living on far less than that.

Labour has fucked this up. Scrapping the WFA was perfectly reasonable, especially when you consider that the full state pension is likely to go up by more than the value of the WFA every single year for the next five years, thanks to the Triple Lock.

Or to put it another way, ending the WFA was really no worse than freezing the State Pension for one year.

LOL ok then.

Absolutely ridiculous. Children aren't a "life choice" they are people.

As are pensioners…

They are a life choice. Nobody has to have children. Everyone faces old age.

Don't be so ridiculous. They no more choose to be born than pensioners choose to get old. You do realise they aren't just an extension of their parents right?

Nobody said they're not though. Just that they shouldn't be entitled to WFA when they're bringing in more money than some of the people paying for them.

Children are the result of the life choices of their parents. Children themselves don't choose to be born, or to get old for that matter.

Small amounts for millions of people soon adds up to huge amounts!

Apparently nearly £2 BILLION pounds in total if it was paid to all pensioners.

That's huge!

It’s 1.9 billion and that’s at £200 (some payments are £300).

Compare that to Defra nature farming budget 2.4 billion a year.

The government have realised they made a mistake, and were losing votes to Reform.

So, they’ve backtracked.

That’s politics. 🤷‍♀️

Still a bad job to get the cut off out.

Of course children are a life choice - no-one has to have them!

Sorry, why do think you shoul get winter fuel allowance? Have I blinked and missed something?
My partner and I lived on 20k between us until I retired, and we weren't elligible for anything due to not having children living at home.
Pensioners no longer pay NI but then I and many others did pay this for 50 years so you know, fairs fair,but we do pay tax,lots of it if we get a penny over the state pension but unless we get pension credit we get nothing else,apparently benefit claimants get other benefits because its so sad they never worked that they deserve more help ( anyone else think thats odd?)

Children are the future and we have a declining birth rate. That’s probably a good thing given the disgusting nature of mankind - specifically mankind - and the turbulent times children now have to live in.

That includes 30% of children living in poverty in the U.K. while the boomers are the richest generation ever.

They're not a life choice to the CHILD though are they? God. So many people act like children are just possessions. Things owned by their parents. They are people.
And no more a "life choice" than being elderly is!
By the same token that elderly person is a life choice of their parents.

Well this government seems to want to make getting old a lifestyle choice. That’s why they’re so set on bringing in assisted dying despite all the objections from the medical profession.

Its per household not each person. My state and private pensions add up to £15.200 per year so not an awful lot.

People complaining that pensioners don’t pay NI - have you ever stopped to consider why that might be?

1. NI primarily funds benefits such as the state pension and the NHS.
2. NI is paid on earned income.
3. The state pension is classed as a benefit. Benefit recipients do not pay NI on handouts from the state.
4. Charging NI on the state pension would mean that other benefits would become liable, such as universal credit and child benefit. Is this what you want?
5. The state has, in the past, considered charging pensioners NI on earned income if they work past retirement age. It is only a short jump to extend this to income from private pensions. Think very, very carefully if this is really a good idea.
6. Similarly, there have been rumours about employers paying NI on pension contributions, making them more expensive. Do you really think this is a good idea?
7. Can you foresee any potential problems if charging NI on paying in and paying out of pensions was ever to become a reality? None? None at all?

There was a big increase in the 1990s. I'm afraid your anecdata doesn't trump mine and nor does it trump the facts. The facts are that a far greater proportion of households now have two working adults compared to the 60s/70s/80s. It's pretty straightforward and born out by the stats so I'm not sure why you need to keep arguing. You may have enjoyed your career or perhaps you had no children at all anyway but that is an anecdote.

I'm not sure why you need to keep arguing

Same. I’m not sure what my personal circumstances have to do with anything.