General Discussion
@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.
From what I have read time and time again is that the cost of means testing pensioners would outweight any savings gained, though it would of course depend what level of income is decided to be the cut-off for receiving the benefits. If the figure was set very low then maybe savings could be achieved. Your comment that "they get more than their monies worth from the NHS" is a gross generalisation, ...
Neilh is trying to put word into other people's mouths. Quote So I guess in their eyes... unquote You guess wrong neilh.
@neilh You cannot ignore a major contribution to the rising UK population: immigration. That has a bearing on the rest of your response to me. I would also say that the elderly are not non-contribututors, my pensioner mother pays income tax and spends money in the town, how is that non-contributory?
Whichever way you look at it the population of the UK is increasing, some would say alarmingly, I don't think there is ever going to be a shortage of people to do the jobs that Libby mentioned.
You are seriously saying the population of the UK is decreasing? I suggest you look at past census figures.
This country (and planet) is bursting at the seams, it's laughable that some people think we could have a problem with under-population in the future.