NOT satisfied with threatening to withdraw the Winter Fuel Allowance from "wealthier" pensioners, earlier this week, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls (pictured) has now implied that a Labour government would also withdraw free TV licences from the top five per cent of "wealthier" UK pensioners.
My pensions income amounts to less than £10,000 pa, so I'm not likely to be targeted on the WFA or TV licence threats. However, once again, I find myself asking: will this TV licence plan prove to be the tip of the iceberg? Would it be the first step towards the complete withdrawal of free TV licences for ALL of Britain's oldest pensioners? Most important of all, how does he propose to impliment such a move ... through a blanket means testing of EVERY pensioner in the land?
Clearly, Balls is hoping, here, to deepen the culture of "haves" and "have nots" among Britain's pensioners. And that's called divide and rule. But, whatever our feelings on the issue, before we start saying it's fair to deprive the richest UK pensioners of these benefits, we MUST demand an assurance that this kind of move ... by any government ... would not mark the first stage of the wholesale axing of such benefits or entitlements.
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