Seniors slam "insulation scam"
22/09/2008
"Gordon Brown's pledge to provide free insulation to all pensioners has turned out to be a complete scam," says Grahame Leon-Smith, Party Leader of the Senior Citizens Party.
"Gordon Brown pledged to provide £1 billion so that all lower income and all pensioner households would be eligible for free loft and cavity wall insulation and other measures. But after they had spent hours on the telephone (using premium numbers to give the Government even more money) a Whitehall spokesman confirmed that only the over-70s and some pensioners on benefits would be eligible. How cruel can you get?
"But the Senior Citizens Party has discovered a second and even worse part to the scam. Nearly half the five million people in fuel poverty live in older houses which do not have cavity walls and many have flat roofs and so they are excluded from any insulation grants whatsoever.
"This of course means that the poorest and most vulnerable people live in the most fuel inefficient properties and will not get any help at all. It is estimated that some 700 older people die from hypothermia every year, mainly because they just cannot afford to heat their homes to a reasonable temperature, and yet the Government proposes to spend £1 billion pounds on grants for home insulation but deny the most vulnerable people any help at all.
"It is simply a re-run of the 10% tax band fiasco, let's help those who don't need help but deny help to those who do," said Grahame Leon-Smith. "This is why ever since 1997 the rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer. What a record for a Labour Government."