Labour has achieved a landslide victory which means that parliamentary opposition will be fragmented, demoralised and ineffective, at least for the first couple of years. So it is even more important that there is strong independent and constructive opposition from outside Parliament to hold the new Government to account.
Thanks to your support Labour has committed to the Triple Lock for the whole of the next Parliament, but other policies could severely undermine its effectiveness. In particular, Labour did not commit to preventing the state pension from being taxed in future, and unless personal tax allowances are unfrozen, millions more state pensioners will be brought into the tax system for the first time. There is also the lurking threat of means-testing the state pension, continually raised by think-tanks and advisers. The unfair state pension system does need to be reviewed and Silver Voices will continue to argue for an improved basic pension and the elimination of the gap between old and new state pensions. The call for compensation for the 1950s women also needs to be settled.
We will be seeking a meeting with the new Ministers to discuss these and other issues, and the more members we have, the more influence we can bring to bear. So please help our campaigns by joining Silver Voices today, on the following link: