Ian

I stopped watching BBC News and political content some time ago and it's no surprise that quality journalists such as Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall are no longer with the corporation

I'll stick with research carried out and not your theoretical assumptions. Not perceptions. Google and read the full Age Concern article and also ask yourself why there is going to be some change to the threshold.

FYI

Council tax? Possible rent? My argument is for people just above the threshold who do not get extra support to cover all such costs. Who supplied you with your figures? I want Labour to succeed but this policy is causing such political damage that it will be partially reversed

No I don't think you are right. You have given no examples of pensioners spending commitments and surely you can see that for many what they get quickly goes on bills, food etc which have all increased. You're correct and the many you have debated with are wrong?

We'll have to agree to disagree. At least we can debate in a civil manner on this platform!

Pension credit tops up to maximum of £908 total pension per month. Fair point if you're on it you get WFA but the issue is for people just above the threshold

Strange argument. I'm retired but don't say that I'm a poor pensioners! Perhaps they're spending their money on meeting ever increasing food/utility/rent bills (not all pensioners own property)? My state pension is just below £850 every 4 weeks. Would struggle to live on that

Of course it's different if you struggle financially in the summer to have to find extra in winter. There have been enough people interviewed on various news reports to show how losing the allowance has impacted their lives.

What about people who are on pre pay meters? Not having to put as much on the key in warmer weather is very different to colder weather needs. I personally know of a person who couldn't put extra on and struggled

I'm not privy to the personal finances of other pensioners but I'd struggle to live on a state pension. £200/£300 will provide extra finance at a time when extra heating needed which is obviously not 12 months of the year

Exactly

I feel that the main problem is that the current threshold is too low. I gave a fair amount of it to the foodbank I volunteer with. Not getting it this year was not an issue for me as I have state and occupational pension but for far too many people it caused significant hardship

Exactly. Using woke as a derogatory term tells you all you need to know about those doing so

I stopped watching BBC News and current affairs some time ago due to the bias shown. Telling that creditable and respected journalists, such as Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall, also left.

Exactement. J'ai regardé ce film il y'a un mois at je peux remembre quand Nicholas Winton etait sur 'That's Life'. (Pardon mais mon francais est un peu rouillé!)

Thank you. I wasn't aware of this.

In the run up I felt that Starmer was taking this stance to remove brexit from the election debate. Now in power I expected at least preliminary dialogue for greater cooperation.

Again reasonable points. However, I'm sure there'll be other sectors of society who could claim to have reasons to not pay/pay less for their contributions to society. It is refreshing, though, to have reasoned debate on this platform!

That's a fair point. People who buy large quantities of land simply to avoid tax clearly need to be taxed. However to not pay any tax on inheritance at all when others with similar inheritance not connected with farming do so seems unfair, especially at lower rate and interest free over 10 years

I have read that the exemption was introduced by Thatcher in 1984. Farmers paid inheritance tax before that and I'm assuming that farms were still passed down. Even now they will pay at half the rate and have 10 years to pay it.

Didn't he also make noises regarding the Panama Canal?

That's a fair point!

As an ex History teacher this was covered in the GCSE Medicine Through Time module!

A very fair point!

This is a good point Dave. We do not have an effective 4th Estate as you say but I believe that there is hostility because of your point

One of the main issues that Labour has is the hostility from much of MSM. Such reports need to be robustly challenged although easier said than done to get this message out to the public

I don't think that it's only The Times pursuing an agenda against the government. I stopped watching BBC news and current affairs some time ago and don't get me started on The Mail/Express etc.

I'd be more inclined to say let's make the press honest!