‘I spend my time sitting alone in a sleeping bag’
A POWERFUL letter sent to a local MP has described the plight of Britain’s pensioners.
Wendy Haxton, 69, who struggles on a pension of £165.77 a week, wrote the poignant piece for Alex Sobel, her Labour MP for Leeds North West, last week.
Wendy, a former gift shop owner who lives in Otley, West Yorkshire, wrote: “I have not had a holiday since 1998.Apart from a few supermarket T-shirts and leggings, I have not bought any clothes for over 10 years.
“I have spent the past two years sitting alone in my house, inside a sleeping bag for much of it, because I have been so cold.
“Water pours through the roof, which I have been told is beyond repair, every time it rains. I watch it soaking through my bedroom ceiling and down the walls when I am in bed, and try to cover my ears to the sound of it.
Awful
“I shall never have the money to replace it, or to repair the dripping taps, broken shower, broken oven and grill or the washing machine which tears clothes to shreds because the drum split three years ago.”
Yesterday Wendy, who lives alone, said: “It’s an awful way to live, it’s no life at all. I get into such a state I cry. I owe a £7,000 overdraft. If I hadn’t got that facility, what would I do?
“That eight per cent pension rise, linked to wage growth, that the Government do not want to give us is worth £13.26 a week. It’s not a huge sum, but it would mean everything to people like me. Instead we will get around £4.
“I’ve worked all my life. My car is 18 years old and next February I’ll lose it because it won’t pass its MOT. My house is a tiny Victorian terrace and I moved to the North from the South to make my cost of living cheaper. I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs since I retired. I’ll do anything to survive.”
Mr Sobel replied: “I believe we all have an interest in ensuring that the state pension allows older people to live in dignity.
“I am committed to a pension system that is sustainable, sufficient and able to meet the challenges of an ageing population.”