National News Budget Statement (With Some Capital Punishment Thrown In Too)

[Peterdev]

I see Rachel Reeves is removing the £300 fuel support for pensioners unless they have pension credit. Brings a new meaning to helping those at the bottom of the income scale

 

[Carpy]

I see Rachel Reeves is removing the £300 fuel support for pensioners unless they have pension credit. Brings a new meaning to helping those at the bottom of the income scale

Sensible cut back in my opinion, and something the Conservatives never would have dared do.

Those that struggle to make ends meet should still get it

 

[LowerSouth]

I see Rachel Reeves is removing the £300 fuel support for pensioners unless they have pension credit. Brings a new meaning to helping those at the bottom of the income scale

Just got back from Oxfam, there was a queue for blankets

 

[Scotchegg]

Means testing winter fuel payments seems perfectly reasonable considering the mess public finances are in.

 

[Wallop]

I see Rachel Reeves is removing the £300 fuel support for pensioners unless they have pension credit. Brings a new meaning to helping those at the bottom of the income scale

My parents have spent it on decent claret for the past few years. No reason they shouldn’t have done so but even they said it was ridiculous they received it.

 

[Maurice Earp]

Sensible cut back in my opinion, and something the Conservatives never would have dared do.

Those that struggle to make ends meet should still get it

Those of us that are on a limited income will suffer, not a sensible cut back in my opinion.

 

[Manorlounger]

The issue will be that very many, and it will be many, will be just out of the benefit zone. Add on to that all those who have no idea whether they are eligible or not, and if so, have no idea how to apply.
Next will be the abolition of the triple lock and no raise in personal allowance dragging many pensioners into paying tax on their pension. The one they have already paid tax on. Then, any savings that are not locked away in ISA's will have the interest taxed.

I don't like doing politics on here but this is nothing short of scandalous.

 

[Maurice Earp]

Means testing winter fuel payments seems perfectly reasonable considering the mess public finances are in.

What about charging all convicted prisoners for board and lodging instead of cutting the fuel payments?

 

[MarkG]

Just looked up how much pension credit is which is i think the new criteria for WFA.
tops up your income per week to £218 for singles, and £333 for couples.
£11,336 / £17,316 per annum.
normal state pension is £221 per week

not a lot to live on really and if you are just over the limit, £300 Winter Fuel Allowance will be very helpful.

Also should they get rid of some of the other benefits and make them means tested?
prescriptions / tv licence / bus travel / over 65 discounted OUFC season tickets etc?

 

[Carpy]

Just looked up how much pension credit is which is i think the new criteria for WFA.
tops up your income per week to £218 for singles, and £333 for couples.
£11,336 / £17,316 per annum.
normal state pension is £221 per week

not a lot to live on really and if you are just over the limit, £300 Winter Fuel Allowance will be very helpful.

Also should they get rid of some of the other benefits and make them means tested?
prescriptions / tv licence / bus travel / over 65 discounted OUFC season tickets etc?

There are other benefits available, Pension Credit isn't the only thing on offer for those pensioners struggling, and isn't the only thing that will qualify you for the WFA.

 

[Peterdev]

The Conservatives didn’t help by freezing the tax allowance of £12570pa a few years ago and it’s frozen till 2028

 

[Wallop]

The Conservatives didn’t help by freezing the tax allowance of £12570pa a few years ago and it’s frozen till 2028

Which presumably a new Government could unfreeze if they were so minded.

 

[Peterdev]

I’m sure they could, but as Labour tell us the public finances are in a mess with £22 billion deficit they will be able to avoid doing that.

 

[QR]

I see Rachel Reeves is removing the £300 fuel support for pensioners unless they have pension credit. Brings a new meaning to helping those at the bottom of the income scale

Winter fuel allowance is only necessary because basic state pension is so shockingly low. These are problems that are going to take years to fix. What a state for relatively rich country to get itself into.

 

[Peterdev]

The pension paid in the U.K. is a fraction of that paid in Spain. What’s more their retirement age is around ten years before ours

 

[OUFCGav]

Which presumably a new Government could unfreeze if they were so minded.

they could, unfortunately the money "gained' by doing so has already been spent elsewhere.

 

[tonyw]

Winter fuel allowance is only necessary because basic state pension is so shockingly low. These are problems that are going to take years to fix. What a state for relatively rich country to get itself into.

It's not just Britain, though.

The US is now in an estimated $4 trillion pension hole i.e. their estimated obligations to retirees are $4 trillion more than they currently have the money for. That's roughly equivalent to the GDP of Germany.

People are living longer and longer across the world, but retiring at roughly the same age as they used to. And in a lot of the largest world economies, the birth rate has fallen substantially under 2. The pensions maths has stopped working.

 

[QR]

It's not just Britain, though.

The US is now in an estimated $4 trillion pension hole i.e. their estimated obligations to retirees are $4 trillion more than they currently have the money for. That's roughly equivalent to the GDP of Germany.

People are living longer and longer across the world, but retiring at roughly the same age as they used to. And in a lot of the largest world economies, the birth rate has fallen substantially under 2. The pensions maths has stopped working.

I'm not sure the waspi women would agree with that.

Is the USA black hole in private or public pensions? Public pensions here are funded from in year tax receipts so there are no assets backing them up. The kind of short sightedness that is always politically attractive but economically insane.

 

[MarkG]

The pension paid in the U.K. is a fraction of that paid in Spain. What’s more their retirement age is around ten years before ours

If you'd been working the fields in Spain you'd probably have a much lower life expectancy.
Would be interested to know the comparison of what you / employer contribute and the same in Spain.
cost of living probably a lot less in Spain

Also our (UK) state pension is unfunded, so our (workers) NIC just goes to the general tax pot.
Other countries have huge state pension funds, but i don't know who eventually benefits.
So the North Sea Oil revenues went to the pension fund for other countries, presumably they have much smaller populations.

 

[BrockBuster]

I see Rachel Reeves is removing the £300 fuel support for pensioners unless they have pension credit. Brings a new meaning to helping those at the bottom of the income scale

Not all pensioners are at the bottom of the income scale, that's the point. Some have income from multiple properties, interest on savings, not to mention private pensions.

For a long time my MIL earned more a month than I did despite being retired when I was doing a full working week at a decent wage.

The Tories traditionally made moves that would benefit older voters (triple lock pension, no means testing for fuel allowance and inheritance taxes) as they knew older people tended to vote more Conservative. And as people get older they tend to vote more with their assets.

 

[BicesterU]

Winter fuel allowance is only necessary because basic state pension is so shockingly low. These are problems that are going to take years to fix. What a state for relatively rich country to get itself into.

We’re not a rich country, we’re a country with an extremely rich top 2-3%.

The majority of the rest of the country struggle to make ends meet, while that top 2-3% live off the profits the rest of us make for them.

Tax the rich.

 

[OUFCGav]

If you'd been working the fields in Spain you'd probably have a much lower life expectancy.
Would be interested to know the comparison of what you / employer contribute and the same in Spain.
cost of living probably a lot less in Spain

Also our (UK) state pension is unfunded, so our (workers) NIC just goes to the general tax pot.
Other countries have huge state pension funds, but i don't know who eventually benefits.
So the North Sea Oil revenues went to the pension fund for other countries, presumably they have much smaller populations.

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund - funded by Oil and Gas Reserves (as opposed to the British model of blowing it) - is valued at 18,525,640,368,418NOK (approx £1,309,063,121,745). Enough to pay 1.5million people £30k/year for 30 years at present - though it is constantly growing (in the time taken to write this it has inceased in value by £14million).

The fund | Norges Bank Investment Management

The purpose of the fund is to safeguard and build financial wealth for current and future generations based on revenue from Norway's oil and gas resources.

www.nbim.no

 

[QR]

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund - funded by Oil and Gas Reserves (as opposed to the British model of blowing it) - is valued at 18,525,640,368,418NOK (approx £1,309,063,121,745). Enough to pay 1.5million people £30k/year for 30 years at present - though it is constantly growing (in the time taken to write this it has inceased in value by £14million).

The fund | Norges Bank Investment Management

The purpose of the fund is to safeguard and build financial wealth for current and future generations based on revenue from Norway's oil and gas resources.

www.nbim.no

Blowing it or investing it in the pension funds of a few. Depends on your perspective.

 

[OUFCGav]

Blowing it or investing it in the pension funds of a few. Depends on your perspective.

the 1% are very important here.

 

[tonyw]

I'm not sure the waspi women would agree with that.

Is the USA black hole in private or public pensions? Public pensions here are funded from in year tax receipts so there are no assets backing them up. The kind of short sightedness that is always politically attractive but economically insane.

Waspi women got utterly screwed because of the way it was done - but in general, the logic behind gradually increasing the pension age is hard to ignore.

The US estimated $4 trillion black hole is public pensions - although not just federal government. I believe that includes state and local government public sector pensions as well.

 

[Village-Yellow]

I see Rachel Reeves is removing the £300 fuel support for pensioners unless they have pension credit. Brings a new meaning to helping those at the bottom of the income scale

There are many pensioners who are doing pretty well with recent state pension rises on top of their additional personal pensions. I deal with many wealthy pensioners who wouldn't even notice the difference if they lost their state pension.

This is a good decision in my opinion, and I include my dear old mother in that category who really didn't need this allowance.

Hopefully, many more things will become means tested to find further savings elsewhere.

Retirees with a personal income from savings/investments/property that pushes them into higher rates really do not need a full state pension.

Time to stop this thought process that every pensioner doesn't have a pot to p**s in. They are probably amongst the wealthiest generation, if truth be told.

Good on your RR.

Although I will concede that the cut off criteria is actually too narrow, but the principle is good.

 

[Village-Yellow]

Just looked up how much pension credit is which is i think the new criteria for WFA.
tops up your income per week to £218 for singles, and £333 for couples.
£11,336 / £17,316 per annum.
normal state pension is £221 per week

not a lot to live on really and if you are just over the limit, £300 Winter Fuel Allowance will be very helpful.

Also should they get rid of some of the other benefits and make them means tested?
prescriptions / tv licence / bus travel / over 65 discounted OUFC season tickets etc?

Yes

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

There are many pensioners who are doing pretty well with recent state pension rises on top of their additional personal pensions. I deal with many wealthy pensioners who wouldn't even notice the difference if they lost their state pension.

This is a good decision in my opinion, and I include my dear old mother in that category who really didn't need this allowance.

Hopefully, many more things will become means tested to find further savings elsewhere.

Retirees with a personal income from savings/investments/property that pushes them into higher rates really do not need a full state pension.

Time to stop this thought process that every pensioner doesn't have a pot to P**s in. They are probably amongst the wealthiest generation, if truth be told.

Good on your RR.

Although I will concede that the cut off criteria is actually too narrow, but the principle is good.

But there is a vast majority of pensioners, my parents included , who went without , worked and paid taxes all there lives , are just about getting by and have never claimed benefits who lose out by this .
Rubbish and frankly ageist that all pensioners are rolling in it .

 

[tonyw]

Rubbish and frankly ageist that all pensioners are rolling in it .

Sure, but some are - and giving those people (which would also include my parents) an extra £300 every year to heat their homes is madness.

Seems like they've oversimplified things, but some reform to means test winter fuel payments (and bus passes and TV licenses etc. etc.) seems wholly reasonable and sensible.

 

[Oxford57]

Yoh couldn't make this up, from everything that were going to do is fully costed, 3 weeks later oh sorry we have no money, I do wonder at times what's the point of politics, perhaps it time for a new approach to how this country actually works