In just one day...1,300 back call for a Minister for Older People

Stroke victim’s half-marathon joy

SUPPORT for the Daily Express petition calling for a Minister for Older People is flooding in.

More than 1,300 people signed on the first day.

At 10,000 signatures the Government has to respond and at 100,000 the call will be considered for debate in Parliament.

We are urging our readers, their friends and family to sign the petition, which says: “This role needs to be established because currently nobody is taking overall responsibility for ensuring society treats older citizens fairly.”

The Daily Express crusade Respect For The Elderly has consistently called for a voice at the highest level that would speak up on behalf of pensioners and champion their rights.

As we reported yesterday, an Age Audit by the National Pensioners Convention laid bare some of the hardships and difficulties many face as they struggle with meagre incomes and ill health.

Dignity

The audit shows the UK has the lowest state pension, in terms of the amount of average earnings it replaces, of any developed country.

Some 1.9 million live in poverty and the proportion of older people unable to afford a decent standard of living has increased from 23 per cent to 32 per cent since 2010.

An estimated four million have a limiting long-standing illness – equating to 40 per cent of all those aged 65 or over.

And a cut of £6billion to adult social care budgets since 2011 has left 1.2 million pensioners in England without the care and support that they need to carry on living with dignity and independence.

Please sign our online petition and show your support for pensioner fairness. If you don’t have a computer at home, you can use one free at your local library – and do not forget to remind your family and friends to sign, too.

Add your signature at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/220923. her behalf. They plucked her from the crowd to cross the line with them on Sunday.

Elizabeth suffered a stroke in 2016 and was found slumped at the bottom of her stairs.

Left paralysed and unable to speak, medics feared she would not recover but after extensive

ELIZABETH BARBER crosses the finishing line of a half marathon two years after she was told she would never walk again. Elizabeth, 72, centre, is with Timea Fordos, left, and Delia Abaza, from Bupa Tenterden House, who agreed to walk the St Albans...