Sunday, February 5, 2012

David Cameron's Lies, Damned Lies and Deliberate Misleading



At Prime Minister’s Questions this week (1/02/2012), responding to a question from Tom Blenkinsop a Labour backbencher about the Deputy PM (Nick Clegg)  recently quoting that the government may bring in means testing for pensioners bus passes, in his reply David Cameron spoke about the commitment he gave to not cutting pensioner winter fuel payments, bus passes and free TV licenses shortly before the general election. The prime minister said that the government had not cut these benefits. With regard to the winter fuel allowance this is a blatant lie and is deliberately misleading the public. The government *HAVE* cut winter fuel allowance payments to pensioners, by £50 from age 60 to 80 years, and from 80 years the Tories have sliced £100 from their cash payments. The reason why Gordon brown gave more case to those older pensioners is because studies have revealed that the older we become the more susceptible to the cold and hypothermia we are, yet Cameron and the Tory led government have cut more from the allowance of this age group. 



We are currently in the middle of one of the coldest snaps of the winter with temperatures plummeting to minus 10 in some places, how many pensioners are going to die from hypothermia in their own homes because the Tories have cut their winter fuel payments and they can now no longer pay to heat their homes? 
One in five pensioners has had to cut back on everyday essentials such as food and heating because of the rising cost of living, a study by Age UK has revealed.
The survey of 1,250 over-60s found that inflation and rising energy costs are causing significant hardship, with nearly half of pensioners (47%) saying they are "just getting by" and one in 10 admitting they are "really struggling".
A fifth of pensioners say they are now going out less, while one in five of those questioned have had to cut back on their heating over the winter to make ends meet. Age UK estimates that 1.8 million pensioners are living in poverty and many more are living close to the breadline.

How much longer is the Speaker of the HoC, John Bercow going to allow David Cameron to tell blatant lies and to deliberately mislead the British public? This time the frail elderly are in real danger of dying alone and cold in their homes because of the actions of David Cameron. George Osborne and Nick Clegg and Cameron cannot even tell the truth.

In fact David Cameron did not give an answer to Tom Blekinsop, what Cameron did was once again avoid giving a straight answer to the question.

So are we all now to believe that means testing pensioners for bus passes, winter fuel payments and free TV licenses is going to be introduced? Nick Clegg refused to rule it out!

Deputy PM, Mr Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said that he believed the Government should cut back on the benefits currently given to all pensioners regardless of their wealth.


Which means of course that most pensioners will not apply for these benefits which are essential to their daily lives and well being.David Cameron is an opportunist and a liar.

Welcome to Tory Britain 2012



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm disabled OAP. Became disabled at the age of 24. I have only being in receipt of Winter fuel allowance for a couple of years. I have never been given the cold weather payments because I am not entitled to it according to DWP. I want to know why disabled cannot claim this when they are in as much need as those on pension credit?

Gracie Samuels said...

Hi Anonymous, I estimate you must be around 62?

You are eligible for a Cold Weather Payment if you get one of the following benefits

*Income Support
*Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
*Pension Credit

I agree you should be entitled to receive the cold weather payments, being disabled and a pensioner puts you at greater risk.
Gas has gone up by around 19%, electricity has risen by around 14% and now water is rising by around 6% and your income is fixed, how does the government expect you to manage? Especially when they have just cut £50 from your winter fuel payments.

Yet David Cameron is allowed to get away with telling bare faced lies in the House of Commons!

The Tories *HAVE CUT* pensioners winter fuel allowance!

Gracie Samuels said...

For more information about decision making and appeals in leaflet GL24 If you think the DWP decision is wrong – these leaflets are available from any Jobcentre Plus office or the Catalogue of DWP products on the DWP website.

More Information on cold weather payments