9 ELDERLY PEOPLE DIE EVERY HOUR OF THE COLD.

[ivanhoe]

THOUSANDS of pensioners died from cold-related illnesses last winter as heating bills soared and temperatures plummeted, official figures reveal.

The number of deaths linked to the cold between December and March reached 25,400 in England and Wales, with another 2,760 in Scotland.

The figures are equivalent to nine deaths every hour.

The total gave Britain the highest winter death rate in northern Europe, worse than much colder countries such as Finland and Sweden.

There are fears the death toll could increase this year following energy price rises which may frighten elderly people into not turning on their heating.

Michelle Mitchell, of Age UK, said: ?It?s unacceptable that tens of thousands more older people die in this country every winter from the effects of the cold weather.

The fact that the UK has one of the highest winter mortality rates in Europe makes it clear this is very much a home-grown problem.

Poppet45.

You must be aware of the amount of tax payers money we send overseas ?

The millions we send to Europe every day, I believe over and above £50 million a day.

And of course the expense of our foreign wars, plus a National Insurance "surplus" of £40 billion.

Please the expnse of means testing pensioners is a beaurocracy costing 15 times moe than the restoration of State pensions link with national average wages.

You and others like you have been brainwashed into accepting and believing what you are told, Im attached to people who get the real info.

Poppet, my two children will inherit a house woth about £375K from me and a second house worth £300k from Grandparents, how am I robbing the next generation.

I paid NI for my state pension, I paid into my company pension, I have saved a good amount of money (by DH working a ton of overtime in years past).

We pay over £3.5K a month in tax and NI.

I am not robbing anybody of anything.

newwave, Some people just dont "think".

They accept the status quo because they are conditioned.

And sadly Britain is full of conditioned people.

Saying somebody who disagrees with you is not thinking is rude.

this is 2011: plenty of people are shafted; 20% of disbaled people are going to lose all disability income, as will their carers- and the HRP, Tax credits, HB help they get. nobody will take their disability away though.

There's not one needy group: there are many.

Newwave - they will only inherit this value, if someone younger than you pays this overinflated amount for the house. I imagine you didn't pay £375k for your house - I imagine it was a fraction of this both in real terms and as a debt to wage ratio too. The housing bubble, now thankfully imploding, is a massive transfer of wealth from young to old. Only those who have rich parents get anything back. Those who don't lose twice, they face more expensive housing than their parents had, and increasing social inequality where it is easier to inherit wealth than earn it.
Ivanhoe I've been conditioned to think for myself and go back to source data for facts, figures and numbers. Not rely on the Daily Mail. I'm sorry I just don't 'think' like you do. Good luck trying to squeeze the rest of your children's future out of their grasp. I will bid you adieu and urge you to keep warm with the heat of your own self-righteous sense of entitlement.

Peachy "There's not one needy group: there are many."

Spot on and the Tories dont give a shit for any of them.

Sadly, newwave, so true.

I loathes myself momentarily today for being glad ds3 is only 6 and there being every chance the whole DLA / ESA mess will have been resolved by the time he reaches adulthood (ASD). I don;t wish it on anyone younger for a minute though. ATOS are hellish: 35% of cases go to appeal, 70% of those are successful and many with severe MH issues and things like an ASD can't face the appeal so disappear off the radar. With ESA they think only 9% of disabled people shoudl be getting benefit after a year- ds3 is certainly not in the most severe 9% but could never attend the back to work schemes they require, let alone get a job! he has a3 minute attention span whenmore than 4 people in a room for a start.

very scary world for all sorts of very vulnerable people.

/////Peachy "There's not one needy group: there are many."

Spot on and the Tories dont give a shit for any of them///////////

Precisely

Don't they get the winter fuel payment shouldn't that be enough to prevent people from freezing to death. What is this NI surplus you keep talking about? Our Government doesn't have a surplus of anything we have an enormous deficit.

Still it's comforting to know we can afford Trident and Bankers bonuses plus illegal foreign wars.

//////this is 2011: plenty of people are shafted; 20% of disbaled people are going to lose all disability income, as will their carers- and the HRP, Tax credits, HB help they get. nobody will take their disability away though.

There's not one needy group: there are many./////

I agree, and it's devide and conquer all the way

Don't pensioners get the winter fuel allowance and free insulation of their homes on top the state and any private pension so it can't simply be a lack of money can it there must be other factors involved.

//////huddspur Thu 27-Jan-11 21:58:32
Don't pensioners get the winter fuel allowance and free insulation of their homes on top the state and any private pension so it can't simply be a lack of money can it there must be other factors involved.///////

That's the hub of your insight ?????

/////byrel Thu 27-Jan-11 21:46:55
Don't they get the winter fuel payment shouldn't that be enough to prevent people from freezing to death. What is this NI surplus you keep talking about? Our Government doesn't have a surplus of anything we have an enormous deficit.//////

Some people believe everything.

////Don't they get the winter fuel payment shouldn't that be enough to prevent people from freezing to death. /////

What a moronic question.

WRT to the winter fuel payment. We live in one of the coldest parts of the country and it costs us £150 a month to keep some of our house at a liveable temperature throughout the year - average 17 or 18 degrees. We are off-grid in a solid granite house. That is with a good amount of roof insulation, some solid wall insulation and some double glazing.

I seriously doubt that the winter fuel payment would make much difference to a hard up pensioner living in this house.

FGS, when is the Govt going to subsidise putting insulation into the coldest houses, not just ones with cavity walls? It really irks me.

No one has mentioned so far that pensioners who are just solvent and those who are better off, pay TAX on their state pension, private pension and/or savings income, thereby still contributing to help the young, disabled and poor pensioners. The winter fuel payment is a drop in the ocean with regard to our fuel bills. We have a small solid sandstone cottage and have applied for but been refused any grants or subsidies on fuel saving measures.

However the winter fuel allowance is tax free - the rich elderly get the full amount - and I would rather see the basic pension raised so that the poorest benefit from an increase and the better off are taxed on it.

I have read this thread with interest. I notice there are pensioners who would like to see an increase in the basic state pension. I have also heard pensioners IRL say they feel they deserve to have more money than they get now.

The words I hear over and over again are 'more' 'higher' 'raise'.

I would like to know how much a pensioner feels they should have to live on, since I find most pensioners are too vague tbh.

If you truly feel you deserve more, then how much more??

Maybe if the govt knew exactly what pensioners wanted, we wouldn't all be having to second guess or maybe thats just me.

Personally, I have never known any govt to have done 'enough' for pensioners.

I would like to know what 'enough' is.

///////Personally, I have never known any govt to have done 'enough' for pensioners. /////

This is because you probably havent cared enough to find out what I have found out.

In 1974 traditional Labour under Harold Wilson and Barbara Castle brought in the National Insurance Act which would ensure that State pensions rose in line with earnings or inflation whichever the higher.

It was Thatcher who broke the State pension link to earnings in 1980, and linked the State pension to inflation, and then Thatcher brought in policies to lower inflation, and the rest is history.

None of the parties represent pensioners. I worked with them for years under the Labour admimistration. They died/were neglected then.
Since when did the Labour party represent the poor and old working class pensioner? Not in my lifetime!

Did you labour Party reninstate the link from pensions to inflation? Well there you have it.

Being on the front line with older people for many years you realise that none of the parties give a fig about them.

Again.

//////In 1974 traditional Labour under Harold Wilson and Barbara Castle brought in the National Insurance Act which would ensure that State pensions rose in line with earnings or inflation whichever the higher.

It was Thatcher who broke the State pension link to earnings in 1980, and linked the State pension to inflation, and then Thatcher brought in policies to lower inflation, and the rest is history.////

So your comment Comp is incorrect.

And no the "New" Labour government didnt restore the link with earnings, because New Labour werent Labour, they had a Tory agenda and kept to it for 13 years.

Do please stop confusing New Labour with traditional Labour, they were totally different parties

I agree the last Labour Party was around in the early 70's!

Ivanhoe I would like to know how much you would like to receive, that is all. If you feel you deserve more, then I can't see the problem in saying how much more.
Why are pensioners so evasive?

/////Ivanhoe I would like to know how much you would like to receive, that is all. If you feel you deserve more, then I can't see the problem in saying how much more.
Why are pensioners so evasive?/////

Again this isnt about me, its about the elderly.

Why are some younger people so thick ?

""complimentary Fri 28-Jan-11 21:22:40
I agree the last Labour Party was around in the early 70's!"".

No, I repeat.

"The last "traditional" Labour government we had was in the 70's.

New Labour 1997- 2010 were in Thatcherite in politically making.