As the coalition’s cut-backs bite deeper into our expenditure and savings, it came as a bitter blow to many of us that the winter fuel payments were cropped. Unfortunately those cosseted folk in the’ wonderful world of Westminster’ have no real concept of what it is like to exist making choices about heating or food, in fact I doubt that they really understand what it is like to be on a low income at all.

As we get older and less able to get about many of us spend more time in our homes, and even during the summer it’s bad enough because as we all know, if you sit for long periods of time one becomes chilled, and obviously in wintertime the problem becomes life threatening if heating is left off because of the fear of a huge energy bill.

Nevertheless I can never quite understand why it is that a vast majority of us seem content to ‘accept our lot’ - even appearing to be grateful and harking back to when their parents had nothing and so ‘we ought to be thankful for what we have...’ Rubbish!

Sorry, but this apathetic attitude is unacceptable – we don’t have to accept meagre pensions and grudging handouts by tight governments. Pensioners should have a right to a decent standard of living, especially as most of us have worked hard all our lives, unlike today’s generation who really have no idea what proper work is. The coalition in 2015 has promised a pension increase figure of £150.00 a week – unless you are already drawing a pension in which case you stay at the figure you are now receiving... not something well publicised, ummm?

We as pensioners and voters outnumber the normal electorate and therefore have great power when it comes to who gets in at general elections – yet we do not use this power at all... why? Political parties need votes... they need YOUR vote.... so if all of us was to stand together and all threaten to vote one way I think the political parties would have to give in and grant us what we all want – a decent pension so that we can have a decent lifestyle and exist in comfort and without fear: and let’s face it, quite frankly our generation has worked hard to earn it!

The plus side for the government is that with decent pensions we would help the economy by spending it... Pensioner power!!!!!!!      

Best regards

Karl Sheridan