Same old Tory as the UK Government let down OAPs

WE’VE now been subjected to nearly a decade of failed Tory austerity and along with low-income families and people with disabilities, older people have been acutely suffering the consequences.

It’s fair to say that pensioners in the UK get a pretty dire deal.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UK state pension is the worst in the developed world.

After a life working hard and paying into the system, the UK Government short-change our pensioners.

In the last four years, 300,000 people of pension age across the UK have been driven into poverty.

Before the general election, the Tories promised to look after older people. But they soon threatened to scrap the triple lock on pensions and brought in proposals for a dementia tax. I have long championed the plight of the WASPI women in Parliament, who campaign against state pension age inequality – where women born in the 50s have unfair changes imposed upon them, leaving them out of pocket.

As the days get colder, older people should not be having to choose between eating and heating their home.

In the Budget next week, the Tories have a chance to consider policies that would ensure pensioners don’t have to worry about making ends meet after a lifetime of work.

The SNP are working hard in government to get things right for

I WAS pleased, although not surprised, to see Nicola Sturgeon pulling out of a speaking engagement after she learned that former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon had also been invited by the BBC.

Giving Bannon this airtime just legitimises and normalises his far-right, racist views.

Well done to the First Minister for making a stand.

Scotland’s older people, despite limited powers devolved from Westminster. Nearly 78,000 people over the age of 65 benefit from free personal and nursing care. Prescriptions and eye tests remain free for everyone in Scotland.

Winter fuel payments have also been maintained in Scotland under the SNP. The Tories had planned to scrap them in England and Wales, only U-turning at the last minute because of public pressure.

The UK Government must use the Budget to deliver a meaningful boost to incomes for older people, especially when the cost of living is increasing and a Tory extreme Brexit threatens to damage living standards for decades.

The Chancellor must give a cast-iron guarantee that the Tories will not scrap the triple lock on pensions, as they had planned to do, and deliver support for WASPI women.

The Tories must introduce a real living wage to support the increasing number of older people who are working. And they must protect benefits like the winter fuel allowance and free TV licences.

Action to improve incomes will mean little, however, if the UK Government continue down the path of an extreme Brexit.

Short of staying in the EU, the only way to protect incomes and living standards is to retain our single market and customs union membership – that