Latest Moan From You and Me 2024

Well certainly not before Christmas!

 

Yeah, but a labour government are expected to go after the multimillionaires.
They are the ones that should be wincing, I presume they are giving them time to get their money into of shore investments.

Not sure how suddenly we have a grey belt?
And they have been converting office blocks around here into apartments for about 5 or 6 yrs.
They stopped building office blocks a long time ago.

 

I’m still waiting for a government that builds new houses in town centres that were ruined during the 60’s. Instead of levelling up those areas, all they can think of is creating new “XYZ Gardens” on former farmers land.

If there is something good in this mess than to learn that the Stonehenge tunnel has been scrapped.

 

But Labour seems to be doing exactly what the Tories would have done. Pensioners on £11k didn't cause the Black Hole.

If Labour is about making pensioners poorer and squeezing benefits, whilst allowing the rich to carry on with their merry wheezes, what's the point of Labour?

There are other choices they could make. Taxing all income at the same rate as work-related income would mean the Rishi Sunaks of this world could not get away with paying a smaller % than someone on £15k. It would bring in billions. Probably fill the Black Hole and create a surplus. Also, it would be very easy to administrate. If Labour were on the side of ordinary folk, they would do it. They won't though ... and that is why there is negativity.

 

I think the removal of winter fuel payments from any pensioner not on certain means tested benefits, is too much of a blunt instrument, and needs tweaking. I've signed petitions to have it looked at again. Clearly I have no personal axe to grind since I don't live in England, but I'm British, I have a vote, and I still care. Clearly also, there is very little money to play with so making empty promises (done by the previous government when saying they'd introduce a cap on the cost of social care, without making any provision for paying for it) isn't going to work. Hopefully the social care cap will be reintroduced once there's money to pay for it.

Winter fuel payments could be restored for pensioners in receipt of other means tested benefits like housing benefit etc, who will definitely be feeling the pinch. But also, I read that 800,000 pensioners eligible for pension credit don't claim it, and therefore won't get their winter fuel allowance. There needs to be some way of helping people to claim what they're entitled to.

I'm not an economist so I don't know what the ramifications would be of introducing a simple tax system such as you describe, @ViewAhead . It's tempting, though... I'm heartened at least by Reeves appointing a Covid corruption "tsar" to recover some of the money mis-spent during the pandemic. Sadly not all the estimated £10bn, but the projected £2.6bn would come in handy...

 

Age UK will help people with pension credit claims, but only if asked. Maybe other charities too.

 

Given the DWP can now access the bank accounts of every pensioner, why not make use of that system to identify those eligible?

@Liriodendron, am all for recouping money misused in the pandemic.

 

I'm all for getting back miss spent money, but talking generally now, why do we have all these long drawn out very expensive inquiries, talking about covid inquiry, post office enquiry etc.

They take years, and cost a fortune, keep lawyers in permanent jobs and usually come up with some wishy washy conclusion and nobody gets held responsible.
Jobs for the boys.

 

Because, @pete, they want to keep the population's fear level up to ensure compliance during the next one (which Bill Gates, Patrick Vallance and others who stand to benefit financially out of any repeat, keep assuring us is just round the corner).

 

I don't claim any benefits and i wouldn't even know where to start, i don't like hastle and argo and i hate forms if i can't aford it i don't buy it and i live very cheaply because of it

 

Never trust your partner to look after something when he dislikes gardening!
My beautiful Red Pepper plant when purchased in May ...


Yesterday he told me it didn't look well in the full sun although he was watering it daily ...


I have it now where I can revive hopefully it and keep an eye on it ... it only gets sun half the day here ...

 

I worked for DWP for a few years, although not on anything to do with pensions. Many of the forms are extremely long and confusing, and the letters sent out are equally full of waffle which leaves many claimants not the clearer on whether they have been successful or not. Systems now seem to assume that everybody is highly computer literate and has access to smartphones. That is certainly not true of many people of pension age.