OVER 2000 PENSIONERS ABUSED IN BLACKPOOL.

With careful planning and forethought, the National Pensioners Convention had come to the point where the three political parties would be asked to respond to a motion which basically outlined the fact that, with little confidence in politicians, we the pensioners wanted to hear from all three parties as to what their intentions were towards us – or else they did not get our votes in the next election.

In 2008, 50% of the electorate will be over 50 years old, and generally with the younger element not using their votes, each ‘elderly’ vote was reckoned to be worth three or four times its face value.

However, the well devised plan was thrown into utter confusion by a letter from the New Labour speaker – no less than the Rt. Hon Hazel Blears, MP – the Labour party chair and Minister without portfolio, who wrote to say that she had to attend the funeral of a close friend, and would not be present.

With over a hundred Ministers of various ranks in Westminster, and a glut of backbenchers – it appears she was unable, or unwilling to send someone to take her place in this event.  At the least she must have a deputy schooled in departmental procedures that should have seconded to the conference. Her response (in the public press) was that “with two days notice – there was no one I could send”  However – unless you are of a certain religious sect – or having a funeral in a Middle East country – I have never known a funeral to be arranged with two days notice !

With the loss of one key triparthaid leg then, the whole set up came crashing to the floor, but the Conservative member, Nigel Waterson MP – Shadow Minister for work and pensions, and now created the Conservative responsible for dealing with pensioners welfare by David Cameron – and the Liberal Democrat shadow Secretary for work and Pensions, David Laws MP were invited to pitch their party line policy for the older person and their welfare to more than 2000 countrywide pensioners.

Alarmingly, after the party statements and a few minutes into the responses and comments from the floor of the hall – the Conservative representative found it necessary to absent himself – leaving a full three quarters of an hour of comment and suggestion to go unheard and un recorded. !!

David Laws MP held the fort for Westminster and took careful notes of proceedings and made a very well composed response to many of the problems aired.

The sheer fact of Labour not responding to the promised event – and the equally bad mannered hasty early exit of the Conservative MP was to be seen as complete and utter contempt by Westminster of the older person and their urgent needs – and was a complete and utter abuse of us pensioners.

The assembled delegates dutifully pressed on with their ‘workshop’ sessions over the next two days.  Framed as official debates on  ‘Bills’ from the Pensioners Parliament to Westminster – the debates took in amendments to the original bills covering varied pressing subjects such as Housing / Lifelong learning / The NHGS bill / Dignity in care / fighting poverty / Pensioners and the media and the right to free travel.  A very wide ranging myriad of urgent matters all under the careful scrutiny of the Pensioners movement in the run up to the next election.

One such upsetting factor was that of the National Insurance Fund, which is a ring fenced sum of monies to be used only for Pensions, and on the order of Government actuaries cannot be utilised for other purposes.  The amount in the fund at THIS TIME would immediately pay for the sought after £119 weekly pension for both men and women. The fund surplus well exceeds all forecasts – and for the year 2006/7 there is a surplus of £38 billion, which will rise to over £42 bn next year. The required rise to £119 would cost just £9.5 billion of this ‘slush fund’ of theirs.

In as much as this treasure trove is not to be spent on other ‘causes’ – it appears that the Government are using this surplus on the funds to invest in gilts and pocket the INTEREST on this trick to use for other purposes!. 

The monies are clearly there in the fund and there is no valid reason why pensioners should subsidise Government expenditure at the expense of having a decent liveable state pension. 

It is a little known factor that the electorate next year will be made up of more voters over 50 than younger, and with the continuing factor of the young tending not to vote in elections – statistics reveal that a ‘pensioners’ vote will be worth four times its face value at the next election.

With some MPs having a majority LESS than the number of registered pensioners in their constituencies, there could be powerful arguments and persuasions in hand. With two million pensioners in recognised ‘poverty’ the aged have a great deal to shout about and campaign for.

The New Labour promise to restore the link to average wages (severed by Maggie Thatcher) and its plan to hold back this reform till 2012 will find three million of today’s pensioners in the grave !

The Conservative shadow minister for older people also promise to restore this link, and claim they are deeply committed to dignity and security for the old – not a factor to reconcile when he got up and left the vital debate 45 minutes before we were through !!!

The Liberal MP pointed out quite fairly that the £87 state pension ‘enjoyed’ today is actually £32 BELOW the official poverty measuring level, And the ‘additional payment’ of 25p when pensioners get to their 80th year was instigated in the days when five old shillings – the equivalent – was intended by Ernie Bevin to pay for a sack of coal for the older to keep warm.

In an interesting debate and discussion on Free Travel across the country it was alarming to learn that local authorities are back peddling on this issue like crazy – one authority even closing down all their public toilets “to pay for the bus passes”  There was a distinct case also for official carers to be able to enjoy free bus travel when taking their charges to hospital appointments and necessary trips out – even if for social reasons.

To round up the parliamentary session, we all enjoyed an address from Prof. Walker of Sheffield University, who pointed out that all those years ago Wilberforce stated that the cessation of slavery was “not affordable” – just as present day politicians trot out this ‘not affordable’ quote to Pension increases in the present era..

He led the delegates through an interesting review of the many plights and few advantages of being a pensioner over the last ten years.

We have Government targets to reduce and abolish child poverty – no such thing for the elderly exists. With 2.2 million pensioners below ‘official’ poverty levels this is a glaring need for any concerned party. At the rate the present pension has been rising it will take 99 years to bring the pension into line with present day poverty levels.

Bob Coote

Retired Members Secretary

May 2007