Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Retirement to be scrapped in UK ?

 

'National Service for pensioners': Former benefits chief says retired people should do community work - and have pension docked if they refuse

  • Former Benefits Agency chief Lord Bichard says older people must stop being a 'negative burden' on the state
  • Pensions 'should be linked to contributions to the community as an incentive for people to look after the "very old" '
  • Campaigners condemn the idea as 'National Service for the over-60s' which they claim 'smacks of social engineering'
Lord Bichard said older people had to stop being a 'negative burden on the state'
Lord Bichard said older people had to stop being a 'negative burden on the state'
Retired people should carry out community work to avoid being a 'burden to the state' - and have their pension cut if they refuse, a senior peer has suggested.
Lord Bichard, a former head of the Benefits Agency, said older people had to make 'a more positive contribution'.

But pensioner groups condemned the ‘absolutely outrageous’ idea which was likened to National Service for the elderly.
Pointing to sanctions on the unemployed who refuse to find a job, Lord Bichard said there should be ‘penalties’ if pensioners do not make a contribution to society.
The 65-year-old crossbench peer is a member of the Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change.

Taking evidence on the impact of an ageing population, Lord Bichard said: ‘Are there ways in which we could use incentives to encourage older people, if not to be in full time work, to be making a contribution?'
He said the pension system should 'incentivise' people to do more to help look after the 'very old'.
‘It is quite possible, for example, to envisage a world where civil society is making a greater contribution to the care of the very old, and older people who are not very old could be making a useful contribution to civil society in that respect, if they were given some incentive or some recognition for doing so.
‘We are now prepared to say to people who are not looking for work, if you don't look for work you don't get benefits, so if you are old and you are not contributing in some way or another maybe there is some penalty attached to that.'
A former Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, Lord Bichard was the top civil servant at the Department for Employment for six years until 2001 when he retired at the age of 54.
He went on to chair the 2004 inquiry into the Soham murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Speaking in Parliament, he said the benefits system should be changed to encourage pensioners to not be a drain on the public purse.
Lord Bichard wants a system where civil society is making a 'greater contribution to the care of the very old'
Lord Bichard wants a system where civil society is making a 'greater contribution to the care of the very old'
He asked: ‘Are we using all of the incentives at our disposal to encourage older people not just to be a negative burden on the state but actually be a positive part of society?’

But the idea provoked a furious response. Dot Gibson, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, said: ‘This amounts to little more than National Service for the over-60s and is absolutely outrageous.

‘Those who have paid their national insurance contributions for 30 or more years are entitled to receive their state pension and there should be no attempt to put further barriers in their way.

‘We already have one of the lowest state pensions in Europe and one in five older people in Britain live below the poverty line.

‘Lord Bichard’s comments are also extremely divisive – trying to pitch younger people against older people, when the truth is that the real division in our society is between rich and poor. Frankly, Lord Bichard needs to think twice before making such silly and ill-informed remarks.’ 
Dr. Ros Altmann, director general of Saga said:  'This is a very strange idea indeed. Those who have retired have already made huge contributions to our society and are already the largest group of charity and community volunteers.
'Lord Bichard’s suggestions smacks of social engineering of a dangerous kind.
'He seems to be suggesting that if you decide to stop working, even once you reach the age that society determines it is reasonable to stop, civil servants should assess you and decide whether you are fit to be assigned to do work that they decide you should do.'
NWN : This is no doubt another devious method of trying to reduce public spending as advocated by the banks and big business. If you don't work when your over 65, you will only receive the lower rate of' Job seekers allowance' benefits which could then be lowered even more, if you decline to work in your retirement. The fact that you most probably have worked all your life for over 40 year, and paid in National Insurance and taxes is irrelevant to these people. These austerity cuts are going to hurt the British people. Only nationalism provides an answer. But unfortunately for us, the 'millstone around our necks' that is Nick Griffin, has truly knackered up the only engine (the BNP) that could have capitalised on all that. The struggle is going to be even harder because of the traitor Nick Griffin.
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9 comments:

tonydj said...

On the other hand, the older members of the community have a lfetime of experience and discipline behind them. At meal breaks they will be chatting together and angry with their new lot in life. Just ripe for some political propaganda by a "leaderless resister".....
ps can you make the "robot detector " pictre legible? I can barely see it.

NWN Admin said...

ps can you make the "robot detector " pictre legible? I can barely see it.

Robot detector ?

You've got us on that one Dave.

tonydj said...

When I leave a comment there is a piece under the comment field which says comment moderation has been enabled. No problems with that.

Underneath THAT there is a fuzzy picture of a door number and a string of distorted letters with the instructions:-


Please prove you're not a robot







Type the two words:

I'll send a screen shot

Anonymous said...

I wonder what useful work that ponce does when he's not scrounging off the state pension ten years early

ENGLISHMAN said...

I thought that we all had an unwritten agreement,work all of your life,pay taxes,nat ins,poll tax,fght the administrations wars,pay your way and live in peace,now apparently this is not so,there are now strands of opinion claiming that it is unjust for younger people to pay for the welfare of the elderly,convinced that such monies would be better off in the pockets of those who pay,oblivious to the fact that preceeding generations were forced to pay to school these ingrates,set up hospitals to cater for thier medical needs,universities for thier future prospects,and a stable society in which they could flourish,it seems that we have been had once again,much like snowball in animal farm,what a sad little people we have become.

razors edge fan said...

is "lord" bichard some kind of gook?

Anonymous said...

I have for YEARS tried to warn people that this sort of nightmare would be upon us eventually but I was always written off as a loon!

I must confess to feeling enormously SMUG that everything I spoke about and was greeted with raised eyebrows for mentioning is rapidly becoming front page news and mainstream political thought!

As next year will see the closure of 5 of our largest power stations,for which NO substitute exists,and is also the start of the Carbon Tax for large energy users such as glass,brick,pottery,chemical,steel manufacturers we can also look forward to the gradual closure of ALL of Britains heavy industry as both the ever higher taxes and power cuts make Britain an economic disaster area.

This will CRIPPLE entire areas like the Potteries and the Cheshire chemical industry and the St.Helens glass manufacturer Pilkingtons.

And another thing to look forward to is when huge waves of EU citizens flood into Britain in search of higher benefits because those in Greece,Portugal,Spain etc have been cut because of the EURO disaster!

This will put OUR benefits system under intollerable pressure and give the government the excuse it wants to abolish it once and for all !

Sooner than people can imagine Britain will have made the return to the 1700's that our rulers have so long wanted and then we can see the happy return of life long domestic service with people cheerfully working 18 hours a day, with young girls singing while they scrub floors while their knees bleed,and those that fancy another career can always become whores and sell shags for 5p a go!

And if this scenario is so insane then WHY is our government still allowing mass immigration when we have 2.5 million unemployed while also actively promoting the entry into the EU of TURKEY which will act as a gateway to Britain for the entire MUSLIM world? Why are they constantly promoting the legal demand that the registered unemployed,disabled and retired be made to work for their daily bread when we already have 2.5 million unemployed?

This is what FASCISM looks like,the choice is yours,fight it or submit to it.But if your going to fight it get a move on because soon you will no longer have the option!

Anonymous said...

Robert Oxley of the Tax Payers Alliance said "it's a bit rich from a civil servant who was able to retire early to lecture us on working during retirement".[3]

From wiki.....

Anonymous said...

Can you say exactly Where and When Lord Bichard said all this? Was it in the House of Lords? A Committee? To a paper? This is not an idle question, I really need to know