Granny tax hits 5 million pensioners

[Gromit]

We're all in this together. I bet when those words were firsted uttered by smiley Dave no one thought he was going to rob the poor pensioners to give a tax cut to the highest paid earners.

http://www.telegraph....llion-pensioners.html

Have they just lost 5 million votes?, or do pensioners accept that paying off the deficit will be better In the long run and will continue to vote for them?

[rockyracoon]

I'm waiting for the penny to drop with my mum, she will retire at the end of the year and has worked her money out, now she'll have to recalculate and I'm going to have to listen to a months worth of earache. When it comes to voting people forget about things that annoyed them with the government abd I think they just carry on voting for whoever they always have done, I still as a friend who votes for a certain party because that's who her parents voted for, she has no idea of what they stand for, she's 45 years old? People get the government they deserve!

[rockyracoon]

Sorry about typo's, flipping iPad!

[vulcan]

Hood Robin comes to mind.

[buildersmate]

"rob the poor pensioners"
rob, v.t. - deprive of what is due.
Since when has a failure to increase an allowance in line with inflation (or any other indexed increase) correlated to 'what is due'?

[johnk]

We're all in it together don't forget??!!

[carolegif]

Has anyone else noticed how the journalists and presenters on TV are portraying us baby boomers as idlers and living off our pensions and heatiang allowance, that we have savings and own our own houses and how easy it has been?
It makes my blood boil!
Firstly in order to buy out first house, it took 3 months (on £22 a week) to save for the deposit - no parents to help us like we have helped our children with a deposit. We worked overtime, didn't go out or have a holiday so we could save. When we bought the house the previous owner left some old furniture in it and we were thrilled that we didn't have to sit on deckchairs with no carpet for the first six months.
WE paid £5 for an old car until my husband got a company car.
We hardly went out - never mind spending money binge drinking - think of the money these young people would save if the stayed in!

We were careful and saved hard to help our children and now many of us do voluntary work - we do not sit at home doing nothing!!

I must exclude the presenter of Lorraine this morning who castigated the female journalist about the cut because her Mum would be affected and as she said "£83 or £343 is a lot of money when you only earn £10,500 a year.

[FredPuli43]

We'll have to console ourselves with the thought that it's not all bad. A pensioner who has private extra earnings of £1 million a year is now £42,500 a year better off!

[VHG]

>>>Firstly in order to buy out first house, it took 3 months (on £22 a week)

Do you mean 3 months?

[rockyracoon]

Did wonder that myself VHG, it took me and OH about 2 years to save for our first house.

[carolegif]

Yes - 3 months. It was 1969 we had to save £150 for the deposit on a house worth £3000. We were paying 3 guineas a week for our small flat. So we both worked overtime and lived on eggs, baked beans - cheap food! Once we paid the deposit, we had to save for the legal fees which were about £100.

[jomifl]

Has anybody stopped jumping up and down long enough to find out exactly how pensioners will be affected?

[Gromit]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home, out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!

[carolegif]

Our families must be related Gromit!!!!

[chaptazbru]

jomifil - read my thread in Business & Finance, New Judge gives an explanation. I'm finding it all hard to understand though.

[Quizmonster]

Buildersmate, you need to get yourself a decent dictionary. Here's how the OED defines rob...
"To deprive a person of something by unlawful force or the exercise of superior power."
Even if you're unhappy with 'unlawful force', I don't see how you can quibble in present circumstances either with 'deprive' or 'superior power'.

[d9f1c7]

Gromit, you had a crust of bread?? Looooxury!

[New Judge]

“Since when has a failure to increase an allowance in line with inflation (or any other indexed increase) correlated to 'what is due'?”

It’s not that straightforward, BM. See my first answer in this question:

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1117568.html

Anyone reaching 65 after April next year will certainly be robbed (or perhaps “deprived of” may be less dramatic) of the increased age-related tax-free allowance.

[rov1100]

As though they have to suffer from very low savings rates many will now have to pay tax on them.

[LoftyLottie]

Carole Gif, I am with you on this. And what is more, more of us had to live with our parents in those days, even when we married. Single people didn't have a hope in hell of buying a home and it didn't even cross their minds.

As you say, we got no help with finance from our parents, we lived with donated furniture, we scrimped and saved and we didn't moan.

And now we are deemed to be a burden on society.

(regardless of Gromit's sarcasm ;o) )

However, we manage on what we have - I doubt whether some younger people could.

[ladybirder]

carolegif - I bet people trying to buy a first house today would be delighted to be able to save a deposit in three months. Three YEARS would be a miracle.