Month in benefits the best way to end poverty?
even more on booze and fags. If they are to receive more than twice as much as those on a basic state pension, is it acceptable that the elderly should remain in dire financial straits? What about the effect on their mental health? and who will be providing this unearned income? The taxpayer, of course.
MICHAEl A. S. HuNT, Beckenham, Kent. I RECEIVE a pension of just £513 a month after years of working hard.
How I wish I qualified for the benefits trial where I could be given £1,600 a month to watch daytime TV and pop out to the pub for lunch.
Name and address supplied. THe basic income trial pays out so much more than the old age pension. Doesn’t that tell us something?
A. JARVIS, Stockport, Gtr Manchester.
SURELY we should be encouraging people to get into the workplace and contribute to society, not handing them the golden goose.
Out of this £1,600 monthly windfall, will they have to pay the same rates of tax, National Insurance and pension contributions as workers earning the same income?
I despair that this ridiculous experiment will reward those who do not wish to work. Meanwhile, older people who have worked all their lives get a pittance of a state pension.
G. J. CROSS, Isleworth, Gtr london. WHere is the money coming from? Where is the incentive to work? What are the projected inflationary effects on prices and taxes to support it? Should the state pension rise to the same level? What are the conditions to qualify for the money? This scheme has disaster written all over it.
JEREMY zEID, Harrow, Middlesex. I WORKED from the age of 15 to 65, never once receiving a penny from the Government until I became entitled to my pension. It would appear I made the error of saving into a private pension scheme, meaning I continue to pay tax, which will help support a scheme for people who have never contributed to the Treasury.
PETER STEEN, Bacup, lancs. I CaN tell you free of charge what will simplify the welfare system and tackle poverty. Tell people to get off their backsides and make a useful contribution to society.