Pensioners to Pay the Price for Government Incompetence
Bill Etheridge • 9 July 2021
News & Social Media / Post
Bill Etheridge discusses a mooted triple-lock betrayal
Once again the chatter around Westminster is all about changes to pensions. Despite having been elected promising to keep the “triple lock” principle on pensions it appears that the chancellor is rather keen on finding a way of changing this arrangement.
The triple lock was introduced to make sure that pensioners did not fall foul of inflation. It means that the annual state pension increase is either linked to the increase in average earnings, prices as measured by the consumer price index or 2.5% with whichever is the highest figure being used. Now, as inflation begins to be an issue the government are desperate to back out of this arrangement, rather like a dodgy insurance company seeking to rat out on a claim.
It could be argued that the triple lock arrangement and indeed the whole provision of state pensions is becoming unaffordable. The average life expectancy in our country continues to rise and with an ageing population pensions become more and more difficult to fund. Whether that be the case or not the government made a manifesto promise it should honour.
Over the last year and a half the government have wasted money on an astronomical scale with their wildly over the top reaction to the pandemic. Rather than seeking to invest in a targeted manner to ensure that hospitals and care homes were more Covid secure we have seen enormous pay outs designed to effectively bribe the whole population to accept house arrest.
The government has spent so much money that they have had to rely on the bank of England to grow a whole forest of virtual money trees. Finances have been brought into existence with the press of a button in order to finance Government profligacy. Under these circumstances it is hardly surprising that we have an increase in inflation. You don’t have to be a degree wielding “expert” to understand that a massive increase in the money supply will eventually lead to an inflationary spike. Anyone who does require an expert opinion on this should look up the works of Milton Friedman.
The spin around this idea of betraying a promise to our pensioners is that it is a matter of “inter-generational fairness” The argument being that the young have suffered the most from the catastrophic economic effects of lockdown policies and the therefore shouldn’t be saddled with the tax burden of trying to pay some of the mind blowing debt back over the decades to come. The problem with this is that pensioners have worked all of their lives and paid taxes with the promise of a state pension to provide for them when they retire, it is hardly fair to allow that pension to be eroded by rampant inflation when they need it most.
We could be about to see a perfect storm driving pensioners into poverty. Their pensions losing value in real terms due to inflation while whatever savings they may have accumulated are also devalued for the same reason.
The truth is that the effects of this government’s fiscal and economic incompetence are not fair on any of us. We are all about to be taught a lesson on the costs of Socialism. The government maxed out and exceeded the national credit card limit and now we are the ones who will be expected to pay it back over decades and probably generations.
This government appears to work on the principle of live for today and worry about the consequences later. They follow whatever is deemed to be popular at the time without a single thought for the long term problems that may cause.
The triple lock was introduced to make sure that pensioners did not fall foul of inflation. It means that the annual state pension increase is either linked to the increase in average earnings, prices as measured by the consumer price index or 2.5% with whichever is the highest figure being used. Now, as inflation begins to be an issue the government are desperate to back out of this arrangement, rather like a dodgy insurance company seeking to rat out on a claim.
It could be argued that the triple lock arrangement and indeed the whole provision of state pensions is becoming unaffordable. The average life expectancy in our country continues to rise and with an ageing population pensions become more and more difficult to fund. Whether that be the case or not the government made a manifesto promise it should honour.
Over the last year and a half the government have wasted money on an astronomical scale with their wildly over the top reaction to the pandemic. Rather than seeking to invest in a targeted manner to ensure that hospitals and care homes were more Covid secure we have seen enormous pay outs designed to effectively bribe the whole population to accept house arrest.
The government has spent so much money that they have had to rely on the bank of England to grow a whole forest of virtual money trees. Finances have been brought into existence with the press of a button in order to finance Government profligacy. Under these circumstances it is hardly surprising that we have an increase in inflation. You don’t have to be a degree wielding “expert” to understand that a massive increase in the money supply will eventually lead to an inflationary spike. Anyone who does require an expert opinion on this should look up the works of Milton Friedman.
The spin around this idea of betraying a promise to our pensioners is that it is a matter of “inter-generational fairness” The argument being that the young have suffered the most from the catastrophic economic effects of lockdown policies and the therefore shouldn’t be saddled with the tax burden of trying to pay some of the mind blowing debt back over the decades to come. The problem with this is that pensioners have worked all of their lives and paid taxes with the promise of a state pension to provide for them when they retire, it is hardly fair to allow that pension to be eroded by rampant inflation when they need it most.
We could be about to see a perfect storm driving pensioners into poverty. Their pensions losing value in real terms due to inflation while whatever savings they may have accumulated are also devalued for the same reason.
The truth is that the effects of this government’s fiscal and economic incompetence are not fair on any of us. We are all about to be taught a lesson on the costs of Socialism. The government maxed out and exceeded the national credit card limit and now we are the ones who will be expected to pay it back over decades and probably generations.
This government appears to work on the principle of live for today and worry about the consequences later. They follow whatever is deemed to be popular at the time without a single thought for the long term problems that may cause.
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