Fighting To Keep The Triple Lock!
As soon as the Triple Lock increase for next April of 3.9% was announced last week, all the think tanks and ex-politicians who loathe the Lock came out of the woodwork to flood the airwaves with anti-pensioner sentiments. Silver Voices counters these statements wherever we can, but we are a single organisation against the establishment! The following opinion column by the Director of Silver Voices was carried in the Daily Mirror:
Critics of the Triple Lock fail to recognise that our state pension is one of the lowest in the developed world and it is impossible to eke out a dignified retirement on it alone. The large majority of pensioners receive the old state pension at £185 per week, and the projected Triple Lock increase will only raise that by £7 per week. Not enough for two High Street coffees.
Disgracefully, nearly 10 million senior citizens now pay some tax on their state pensions because of the frozen tax thresholds. This dilutes the value of the Triple Lock increase for most, and we are urging the Government to raise the personal allowance in the coming Budget.
For those interested in intergenerational justice, compare the £185 per week state pension to the minimum wage for youngsters of £445 for a 35-hour week. Until the state pension rises to at least half average earnings (£350 per week), no case exists to scrap the Triple Lock.
As it happens, pensioner poverty is starting to rise, with an increase of 200,000 older people falling into poverty last year. And I fear this trend will continue next year despite the 3.9% increase. Energy prices are already rising far faster than that and the knock-on effect of the Middle East War on food and other household essentials will be harrowing for those on modest incomes. Adding above inflation council tax rises and utility price increases next April, and we will have a perfect cost of living storm. 80% of pensioner households are already worried about how they will heat their homes this winter.
All opinion polls show massive public support for the Triple Lock and politicians advocating its demise do so at their peril.
Please send a copy of this opinion piece to your MP and urge them to voice their support for the Triple Lock.
Also, if you are not already a member, join Silver Voices to add strength to our voice in defence of your state pension: