GOVERNMENTS ALWAYS PUT THE ELDERLY LAST

MAUREEN Childs, 82, lives in the City of London. Unlike Dick Whittington, she knows the streets of the capital are not paved with gold.

The former teacher has seen her electricity bills jump to £45 a week while her BT broadband connection – which she relies on to keep in contact with friends and family – has increased to £30 a month. She said: “I’m old enough to have lived through successive governments of different political colours and what they all have in common is that elderly people come last.

“This week’s Budget was disgraceful. Does the Chancellor think we’re all fools, that we’re older and have lost our marbles?

“I’m not comfortable at all with this Household Support Fund.

“Why should I have to go cap in hand to my local council and beg for money?”

Maureen heats a single room in her one-bedroom flat and keeps an eye on her bills.

The great grandmother very worried about how she’s going to make ends meet.

She added: “I do what I can to keep costs down, but you reach a point when you can’t economise any further.

“The thing about pensioners is that the vast majority are on a fixed income.

“You can’t simply go out and work an extra shift or two to get more money.”

Maureen, who sits on the committee of the north London branch of the British Computer Society after completing an IT degree when she was 50, is a keen advocate of green technology.

She added: “I would like to see the elderly helped out straight away to pay these huge energy bills coming down the line.

“But in the medium term, I would like to see much more investment in green technology so we can avoid using expensive oil and gas.”

‘Does the Chancellor think we’re all fools?’