General Discussion
@Hells Bells I didn't realise it was in the VFD manifesto to get rid of the town hall staff, must have missed that bit.
@Percy tucker Are you seriously suggesting that if somebody isn't born and bred in Dawlish then they can't have an opinion about what goes on in the town? I've never heard anything so ridiculous. And in case you haven't noticed, virtually nobody posts on here using their name.
Hells Bells I think you have just libelled VFD, hope you are able to substantiate your claim. And as for Willoughby standing down, that's the greatest service she has done for the town. She would have been an embarrassment as Mayor.
@Hells Bells Are you her PR consultant?
@User 4549 I think the final act that brought her to the decision to resign, was being approached by one of her own party who had been asked by a VFD to ask her not to stand for Mayor. You seem to have an awful lot of inside information, I wonder where you are getting it all from? Care to share?
Or perhaps she was never up to the job in the first place.
@Lynne This is a seaside town, and it's Easter weekend, what do you expect? I'd rather the crowds, than a desolate Strand.
So what do you think should happen to pensioners who have not paid into the system for a lifetime? You say you don't mind pensioners receiving special treatment when it comes to welfare, but you spend a lot of time banging on about it. It is said you can judge a society by the way it treats its elderly, and I don't begrudge any pensioner getting a bit of preferential treatment in their twilight ...
@Lynne You said people of state pension age receive "more than their monies worth from the NHS", I called that a gross generalisation, but you then turned the comment around so it referred only to your family experience. Therefore I stand by my original comment. As for your question, I understand that you now have to pay NI contributions for 30 years (down from 40) to receive a full state ...
To add to my earlier response, I would say I have no qualms about pensioners receiving the benefits listed by Lynne. All the pensioners I know have very modest incomes and don't begrudge them the benefits after a lifetime of paying into the system.