‘Bungling Badenoch’s triple-lock talk seems to be a threat to pensioners – doesn’t it?
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch seems keen to cut the amount of money a Tory government would provide to people who really need it.
She said, as a Tory leadership candidate last September, that maternity pay was “excessive” – and then backtracked to claim she was saying it placed too high a regulatory burden on employers.
Now, in a phone-in on talk radio channel LBC, she responded to a question about the state pension by saying the UK has a poor record in prioritising assistance to those who need it the most.
This has been taken as an indication that she might scrap the so-called “triple-lock” uprating policy, by which pensions increase every year by either average earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest.
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She backtracked (again) immediately, saying she wanted to examine the possibility of means-testing.
But if we couple this with her comments on Labour’s decision to restrict Winter Fuel Payments only to pensioners who receive Pension Credit – she said she supported the idea that it should not go to “millionaires” – we can conclude that she may be planning something nasty for pensioners.
This should be opposed in the strongest possible way.
Every working-age person in the UK contributes to the national pension fund from the moment they reach working age until retirement. The amount of success we have in life is irrelevant to this – it does not matter if we become millionaires or paupers; we all contribute and so we all deserve the full pension.
If Badenoch perhaps thinks the super-rich should be exempted from paying into the pension fund – in order to avoid paying pensions to them – she will be depriving the government of valuable investment cash. The pension fund is extremely large and is expanded by being used for investment purposes. So that would be an extremely silly decision.
On the other hand, if we look at Badenoch’s claim that she wants to means-test more benefits, one has to question which benefits she is considering. Housing Benefit, Universal Credit and Pension Credit are already means-tested. What’s left? Another attack on the sick and disabled people who need any extra cash they get, simply to survive?
It’s all looking very murky – but what is coming through, crystal clear, is that these double-talking Conservatives must not be allowed back into government.
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‘Bungling Badenoch’s triple-lock talk seems to be a threat to pensioners
‘Bungling Badenoch’s triple-lock talk seems to be a threat to pensioners – doesn’t it?
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch seems keen to cut the amount of money a Tory government would provide to people who really need it.
She said, as a Tory leadership candidate last September, that maternity pay was “excessive” – and then backtracked to claim she was saying it placed too high a regulatory burden on employers.
Now, in a phone-in on talk radio channel LBC, she responded to a question about the state pension by saying the UK has a poor record in prioritising assistance to those who need it the most.
This has been taken as an indication that she might scrap the so-called “triple-lock” uprating policy, by which pensions increase every year by either average earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
She backtracked (again) immediately, saying she wanted to examine the possibility of means-testing.
But if we couple this with her comments on Labour’s decision to restrict Winter Fuel Payments only to pensioners who receive Pension Credit – she said she supported the idea that it should not go to “millionaires” – we can conclude that she may be planning something nasty for pensioners.
This should be opposed in the strongest possible way.
Every working-age person in the UK contributes to the national pension fund from the moment they reach working age until retirement. The amount of success we have in life is irrelevant to this – it does not matter if we become millionaires or paupers; we all contribute and so we all deserve the full pension.
If Badenoch perhaps thinks the super-rich should be exempted from paying into the pension fund – in order to avoid paying pensions to them – she will be depriving the government of valuable investment cash. The pension fund is extremely large and is expanded by being used for investment purposes. So that would be an extremely silly decision.
On the other hand, if we look at Badenoch’s claim that she wants to means-test more benefits, one has to question which benefits she is considering. Housing Benefit, Universal Credit and Pension Credit are already means-tested. What’s left? Another attack on the sick and disabled people who need any extra cash they get, simply to survive?
It’s all looking very murky – but what is coming through, crystal clear, is that these double-talking Conservatives must not be allowed back into government.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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