IF YOU DON'T live in South Devon, England you probably won't have seen my Pensioners Platform column in the August-September 2015 edition of the Torbay Times newspaper. So here it is:-
THEY’RE
ALRIGHT JACK!
WHAT a
month it has been! No sooner had I submitted my copy for the July-August Pensioners
Platform column when along came Chancellor George Osborne and announced in his
Budget that the BBC would fund free TV licences for the Over 75s. But I have a
question: wouldn’t such a move give the BBC every excuse it ever needed NOT to
cater for the more mature, more discerning listeners and viewers?
Soon after
the Budget statement, that well-known Left-leaning luvvie Joan (Baroness)
Bakewell was urging all Over 75s to pay the TV licence fee anyway to “help
save” the BBC. Well, she would say that wouldn’t she. As if we needed a lecture
from someone who isn’t exactly an average UK pensioner? Paying-out £145.50 for
an annual TV licence may come easy to Baroness Bakewell, but she can rest
assured it’s a sizeable chunk of cash for the average UK pensioner aged 75 or
older. Indeed, such a sum would come-in very useful to many pensioners, for far
more important things like heating and nourishing meals in the winter months.
When all is
said and done on the TV licence debate, the fact remains that most of us have been
digging deep into our pockets each year for decades, simply to fund a
profligate BBC. Yes, by all means, compel the corporation to fund a free TV
licence for the Over 75s, but – as I wrote in last month’s column – surely it’s
time we ten million-plus UK seniors were entitled to something more? A
dedicated national radio station and TV channel catering exclusively for us
would be a good start.
As if to
add injury to Baroness Bakewell’s insult, on July 17, we learned that Prime
Minister Cameron’s government had reneged on a manifesto promise to cap care
home costs at £72,000 by April of next year. That pledge has, apparently, been
shelved until 2020, which means it will probably never be passed into law. So, every
pensioner with assets of more than £23,250 will have to pay the full cost of any
care they receive. That may not be a problem for a Member of Parliament or a member
of the House of Lords, but it’s a major worry for the rest of us.
Unfortunately,
it didn’t end there because, as the weeks passed by, we were also entreated to
news reports about the £172 taxi fare handed-over by House of Commons Speaker
John Bercow for a trip of little over half a mile. Then there were revelations
about the peer Baroness Wilcox, who can – if she so wishes – walk just 200
yards from her home to the House of Lords each day to claim an attendance
allowance of up to £300 (Plymouth Herald July 29); plus the three billionaire
peers – Lords Paul; Kirkham and Grantchester – who, according to a Daily Mail
expose on August 1, still claim their daily £300 simply for turning-up.
On top of
all that, over the past month or so, many of us will have seen the shameful
photo of peers slumbering during an important debate. And, as if that wasn’t
enough, we then learned of Prime Minister Cameron’s determination to populate
the House of Lords with even more peers; plus … well, I think you’ll get my
drift by now. Seriously, though, it’s a mess isn’t it? And what’s more, you and
I are bank-rolling all this nonsense.
Yes, we tax
payers are contributing every penny towards the aforementioned extravagance.
Meanwhile, here at street level, we’re faced with the reality of an
increasingly disabled NHS. Furthermore, this past month we also learned that
some police forces in England don’t even have the resources to investigate
burglaries anymore. Then there’s the worrying issue of our porous borders attracting
thousands of (have you noticed?) extremely healthy-looking, well clothed,
athletic, agile and resourceful migrants, many of whom seem to view us as a
soft touch.
And that’s
the problem. We Brits ARE a soft touch! So, the next time you hear or read the
words “benefits scrounger”, or come across a news item about free-spending
politicians please remember YOU helped to provide the cash, through the taxes
you pay. That money doesn’t grow on trees, it comes from YOUR pocket, and these
days far too many of the recipients are laughing all the way to the bank,
shouting … “I’m alright Jack!”
