Commenting on David Cameron’s pledge to protect universal benefits for pensioners, Director General at the IEA, Mark Littlewood, said:
“Politicians must stop trying to woo elderly voters at the expense of other generations. Combined with the triple lock on pensions and the extension of the pensioner bond scheme, committing to protect the universal benefits currently received by the elderly is completely unjustifiable going into the next parliament.
“There is no economic rationale for these benefits, and as a matter of principle taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for wealthy pensioners to enjoy the luxury of a free bus pass or TV licence.
“The elderly cannot remain immune to public spending restraint and abolishing these benefits would help ease the burden on the working age population.”
We would be interested to hear your views on this controversial statement. Ed.
