AS A senior citizen living under a so-called "Labour" government, I have witnessed the UK allocating the smallest amount of GDP to pensions in the whole of Europe. I have witnessed a Labour government processing the worst aspect of pension inequality by agreeing to the Conservatives' breakage of the link between pensions and wages for 10 years and only now reversing this because of poor local government election results in England. There will, however, be many pensioners who will die before 2012, when this momentous turnabout takes place.
Even more despicable is Chancellor Brown's approach to widows, where, irrespective of the cost to human suffering, he pursues the easy options for tax income, while letting the wealthy off the hook.
Under the present "five-year" rules, a widow whose husband dies two years after his retirement date is entitled to a tax-free lump sum equivalent to a further three years' payments - five minus two. A worker in a company scheme on a salary of GBP16,500 a year would, on average, receive roughly half the annual salary - GBP8250 - as a pension. So a lump sum of three years' payments to his widow would total GBP24,750.
Under the new proposal the widow would have 35-per cent tax deducted, reducing the amount she received by GBP8662 to GBP16,088.
Coupled with the introduction of means-testing for the elderly, we have a potential prime minister whose attitude to the elderly is that we are an encumbrance, we cost too much, we clutter the NHS and, if we die early, there are cost savings to the Treasury.
Michael Morris, 41 Brackenrig Crescent, Waterfoot.
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