Lib Dem plans to provide dignity and security in later life (Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats)

Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats <info@wantagelibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dem plans to provide dignity and security in later life

April 25, 2010 7:30 PM

Jo Swinson has campaigned for a fairer deal for pensioners

Lib Dems are committed to providing a fairer deal for pensioners

The way older people are treated is the mark of a fair society. Older people have worked hard and contributed to society for decades; they deserve a fair deal. Liberal Democrats will increase the inadequate basic state pension and ensure fair treatment for everyone from government, public services and business alike. That is why Liberal Democrats will:

• Immediately restore the link between the basic state pension and earnings. We will uprate the state pension annually by whichever is the higher of growth in earnings, growth in prices or 2.5 per cent.

• Increase the income tax threshold to £10,000, saving most pensioners around £100 a year.

• Offer a week's respite for the one million carers who spend 50 hours every week looking after a sick relative.

• Scrap compulsory retirement ages, allowing those who wish to continue in work to do so.

• Give you control over your own pension by scrapping the rules that compel you to buy an annuity when you reach 75.

• In the long term, aim to bring in a Citizen's Pension that will be paid to all UK citizens who are long-term residents, set at the level of the Pension Credit, though this can only be done when resources allow.

• Begin a national programme to insulate many more homes paid for by the savings from lower energy bills.

There is a further, serious, long-term crisis facing older people: the sustainability of the systems for providing long-term care. It is unacceptable that this challenge has been treated as a political football. A Liberal Democrat Government would immediately establish an independent commission to develop future proposals for long-term care that will attract all-party support and so be sustainable. We believe that the eventual solution must be based on the principles of fairness, affordability and sustainability.