OAPs blitzed as devious May opens up on all fronts

A TORY Cabinet full of wealthy 40 and 50-somethings yesterday declared war on pensioners.

Theresa May’s manifesto begins a rolling programme of deprivation that hits old people not just now but for generations to come.

By scrapping the so-called “triple lock” that guarantees a minimum annual rise of 2.5%, the bankerturned-premier stopped the clock on state pension improvement.

If she wins, it will never rise in value again. At best, it will only keep pace with either prices or earnings after 2020, and this is just the thin end of the wedge of a real cutback.

The Prime Minister prided herself yesterday on being a true heir of Maggie Thatcher – and she axed the link with earnings.

The Tories will also end the winter fuel allowance, worth up to £300 per household, for all but the poorest pensioners, with a promise the savings will go into social care.

We know what their promises are worth – not the glossy paper they’re written on. They promised not to increase VAT and promptly did.

And Mrs May’s social care plan is a minefield. It increases the cost of care threshold to £100,000 – but counts in the value of the home.

Hundreds of thousands of old folk now exempt from payment for care, either domestic or residential, will have to pay in future. And children will lose much of the value of the property they inherit.

The package is a sneaky extension of means-testing of universal rights and benefits, opening up all sorts of potential cutbacks.

It’s “Mayday! Mayday!” wake-up time for OAPs and their families. She thinks she can hit us because our votes are in the bag over Brexit.

We might just be minded to wipe that clip-on smile off her face.