Baby Boomers Will Show Labour The Door

Opinion

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/baby-boomers-defiantly-refuse-to-grow-old-552853.html


The present Labour government has ignored the plight of the pensioners and those approaching pensionable age. These are the baby boomers, born during and after the Second World War who refuse to grow old (see link) and yet are now considered unemployable, partly because of the lack of employment, partly because of the recession and partly because of age discrimination, which is an unacknowledged reality.


These are the feisty people who have been slighted by this government and will show the door to New Labour by with-holding their vote or voting for a party which cares for their predicament. People of this generation are offended by having to prove their impoverished status by means of a means test and are reluctant to be obliged to claim Pension Credit. Many of them refuse to do so. The government has gained from those who have not claimed.


After having spent their lives industriously and conscientiously performing their duty for society and endeavouring to support their families, and striving to put away what little they can afford to ensure their survival into a lengthy retirement, they also suffer the indignity of being required to pay tax on their basic state pension allowances.


British pensions are by far the lowest in the European Union and do not cover the necessities of life in the 21st century. They ensure basic survival and nothing more, yet there are many other expenses requisite for a full and active life. It is as if the attitude of those in government consigns the elderly to history while they are still among us - the forgotten people of British politics. "From the cradle to the grave" was once a proud boast of Labour but no longer does it live up to its socialist expectations.


This is why I suggest that the baby boomers will consign the Labour government to history and vote en masse for parties which do not practise these discriminatory policies. Plaid Cymru is one of the parties which has advanced the pensioners' cause and brought their plight to the front of the public's attention, another is the SNP. In Wales and Scotland it is the nationalist parties, radical and communitarian, who have taken over the socialist mantle and displayed sympathy and concern for the elderly, once held is respect, but now spurned and largely ignored.


Plaid Cymru believes that Pension Credit should be included in the State Retirement Pension and then everyone gets it automatically - £35 a week would make a massive difference to the lives of those people currently not getting Pension Credit. Just because those of a different generation who are in charge of passing legislation are not directly affected by the pension problem this should not be an excuse for not attending to the needs of the socially impaired.