Cameron puts aid before pensioners

WiTH nine days left, David Cameron has struck a new low with his discredited threat that the elderly may be first to suffer if britain pulls out of the EU.

There are no prizes for guessing why he has focused his scaremongering on pensioners, warning that he may be unable to keep his manifesto pledge to them if we vote to leave.

after all, they include not only the most vulnerable in our society, but also those most likely to vote. so his cynicism is utterly transparent. but why should pensioners have anything to fear?

The fact is that mr Cameron has been able to honour his pensions ‘triple lock’ through far tougher times than these. Even when the deficit stood at £100billion a year, he was as good as his word in increasing state retirement payouts by inflation, average wage rises or 2.5 per cent, whichever was higher.

He certainly did not say, when he made this pledge, that he would keep it only if britain voted to remain in the EU.

but even if there were a grain of truth in mr Cameron’s highly dubious claim that britain’s withdrawal could force him to tear up his commitments, why should his promise to pensioners be the first to go? What about overseas aid? as mPs pointed out yesterday, he makes no threat to cut this monstrously bloated, £12billion-a-year budget if we pull out.

but then who would care if he did – and who would be frightened into backing the remain camp?

no, like so much we have heard from mr Cameron during the campaign, this unsavoury attempt to alarm the elderly smacks of desperation.

With time running out, and the polls showing opinion slipping away from them, is there nothing the remain camp won’t stoop to in their efforts to salvage their deeply unimpressive campaign?