The Green Party today becomes the only political party to call for a state pension of £170 per week and a better future for older people in Britain.
Darren Johnson, Green parliamentary candidate for Lewisham Deptford, met with members of Deptford Action Group for the Elderly this week at the launch of the Green Party’s Older People’s Pledge, a set of key national policies designed to make Britain a better place in which to grow old.
Darren Johnson said:
"After a lifetime of hard work and contributing to society, pensioners deserve better than having to scrape by on an inadequate state pension. It’s only fair that the basic state pension should be enough to live on – that is why Greens would make sure that all pensioners receive a non-means-tested £170 per week, as well as free social care for all who need it, as is currently offered in Scotland."
The figure of £170 per week is calculated as the minimum required to keep the basic state pension above the official poverty line, according to the National Pensioners’ Convention, in their Pensioners’ Manifesto, which calls for a range of measures to improve conditions for older people (see note 4).
A spokesman for the NPC said:
‘The NPC welcomes the Green Party’s commitment to improving the basic state pension for Britain’s 11m older voters and hopes that other parties will see the economic and moral sense in tackling pensioner poverty. This is something no political party should ignore.’
In addition to raising pensioners above the poverty line, the Greens are pledging to end the default retirement age, so that people have the freedom to go on working and contributing to society if they wish to, free from discrimination on the basis of age.
Michelle Mitchell, Age Concern and Help the Aged’s Charity Director, said:
"We welcome the Green Party’s focus on older people and desire to address the challenges of ageing as we head towards the general election. Abolishing the default retirement age and increasing the basic state pension are absolutely key to improving the retirement prospects for millions of older people."
And as part of the Greens’ policy of free insulation for every home in Britain, pensioners would benefit from warmer homes and be less reliant on winter fuel payments.
NOTES
1. The Green Party’s Older People’s Pledge is attached.
2. £170 per week – how it would be paid for:
There are roughly 12 million pensioners living in the UK and a further 1 million living abroad. Paying a single rate of £170 per week, and a couples rate of £300 per week, will cost £110bn per year. The current basic state pension, plus certain other specific pensioner benefits like Pensions Credits paid to those of pension age (which would become redundant if the basic pension rate was raised to the level we propose) costs £70bn. For the remaining £40 billion, we would abolish
tax relief on pension contributions (£20 billion), and the national insurance rebate on employer and employee contributions to private pension schemes (£19 billion). The final £1 billion will come from increased income tax receipts from pensioners.
3. In 2009-10, the full basic State Pension is £95.25 a week. For a married couple who both qualify, it is £190.50 a week. From April 6 2010, these figures will rise by 2.5%.
4. The NPC’s Pensioners’ Manifesto can be downloaded here:
http://www.npcuk.org/publications.htm
(under ‘General’ – ‘Pensioners’ Manifesto 2010′)