We keep hearing about the large increase that the pensioner is getting, and there are also hints being dropped that the pensioner is benefiting at the expense of the working fraternity.

What is being totally overlooked is that the pensioner has been paying his dues for the majority of his working life, this was supposed to be towards his pension and his national health contributions.

Yes, the pensioner has had an increase in his pension whilst the person in work has had to do the usual thing and go on strike, what would happen if a pensioner went on strike, the majority of people don’t realise that a very large number of the voluntary services are staffed by pensioners and these are unpaid positions. So yes if a pensioner went on strike it would make a difference, but nothing that would bother the government.

Another thing that isn’t being considered is that the pension is taxed, this means that 20 per cent of the increase is clawed back by the government, who conveniently forget this when talking about the pension increase. Let us say that the increase is £10 per week, which means one-fifth of it is taken back again, leaving the actual increase to be £8. It was a Conservative government that removed the pensioner’s free TV licence of course they went the long way around so that the BBC could be blamed for it.

Isn’t it nice that the government forgets to tell you this and tries to make the pensioner the scapegoat?

Now here’s an idea, why not tie the pension to a percentage of the MP’s salary in fact why not tie all salaries and wages to the MP’s salaries? Of course, knowing that the MPs are up to all the fiddles possible great care would have to be taken on how it is done.

Now that the MP’s family aren’t supposed to work for them any more at least that’s one door that has been closed. Perhaps we should also put a ban on them being used as a consultant, this must put a bias on their way of thinking and voting.