Hmmm! How old is Alex Wild? How old are his parents? He may live to regret having said this!
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Spotted this taken from BBC news webpage
(113 Posts)Ministers should waste no time to make unpopular cuts to pensioner benefits, a think tank director has said.
Many of those hit by a cut to the winter fuel allowance might "not be around" at the next election, said Alex Wild of the Taxpayers' Alliance.
And others would forget which party had done it, he added.
At the group's meeting at the Conservative conference in Manchester, former defence secretary Liam Fox said spending cuts must be "for keeps".
Mr Wild said the Tories could not wait until a year before the next election to make the necessary cuts to the winter fuel allowance, free bus passes, the Christmas bonus and other pensioner benefits.
The cuts should be made "as soon as possible after an election for two reasons", said Mr Wild.
"The first of which will sound a little bit morbid - some of the people... won't be around to vote against you in the next election. So that's just a practical point, and the other point is they might have forgotten by then."
He added: "If you did it now, chances are that in 2020 someone who has had their winter fuel cut might be thinking, 'Oh I can't remember, was it this government or was it the last one? I'm not quite sure.'
"So on a purely practical basis I would say do it immediately. That might be one of those things I regret saying in later life but that would be my practical advice to the government."
'Day of reckoning'
Mr Fox told the meeting that the government had to act now to make further cuts to pensioner benefits and welfare.
He said "we can never go back" to the "historically high" levels of public spending seen in recent years and the government's public spending cuts must be "for keeps".
"This is the time to fix the roof" he said.
"We have a broken opposition. We have just won a general election and we need now to take the tough decisions we believe are right."
Now that Labour was not such a "great threat", this was a "great opportunity for us to do some of the more difficult things, however unpalatable they will be in the short term are what we need to do for the country", said the right-wing backbencher.
He added: "We need to do what we all know deep in our hearts to be right."
Liam FoxImage copyright Conservative Party
Image caption
Former defence secretary Liam Fox said the government had to make further cuts
Mr Fox added that the government had to make the "moral" case for reducing public spending further.
"We are borrowing from the next generation to spend today. That is otherwise known as a Ponzi scheme," he said.
"It's what we are operating as a national financial policy."
He added: "If you continue to overspend there will be a day of reckoning."
He said this was because borrowing costs would rise and the era of low inflation would not last forever, meaning economic growth on its own was not enough to balance the books.
Older people would understand the need for cuts to their benefits to help the next generation, he suggested.
"We have got to start to get really honest with people because this is not a sustainable position," he said.
"We can't afford it now, we can't afford it in the future, why don't we try to get a longer-term plan put in place so that people can make the adjustments they will need to make for us to be able to get back into balance."
Fox is no spring chicken - although I can't think that he would need the WFA.
Just a quick check on Alex Fox. Since he graduated in International Relations from Leeds in 2010 I assume he's in his mid-twenties so may well have grandparents. How proud they must be.
It may happen,I don't have any touching faith in any political party once they are in power. Just that it is a bit of reporting from a think tank.
Apologies to all for having started another thread!
I too love my bus pass and as others have send it is a godsend when you don't have a car. The nearest fresh fruit and veg shop is a good 20 minutes walk away whilst the nearest supermarket is 45 minutes away - Oh, and I do live fairly centrally in Newcastle.
If something has to be done about pensioner allowances (not my personal view) then I would suggest including it in taxable benefit!!
Those in receipt of the difference could always give the money to a charity of their choice if they didn't think they needed it!
I don't believe that so much austerity is needed - just collect more tax from multi-nationals from their profits made in this country and introduce a more graduated tax system - the greater your income the more you pay. Perhaps then we could afford to house the homeless, enjoy a National Health Service and live in a more equal society. Pie in the sky maybe, but I thought humans had big brains and imagination - sometimes it looks as if we are stuck in the past by blaming the poorest and weakest in society for all its ills - not those in power
ayse yes!!!!!
I have every intention of living beyond 2020 and I have a very good memory.
What stupid cynical remarks by liam fox and the tax payers alliance. Makes my blood boil at how arrogant they are. Believe me,we won't all be dead or gaga in 2020.
Not so quick to decide to cut the subsidised meals and drinks in the House of Commons and House of Lords.
When my OH & myself first received our fuel allowances we were both working & gave them to a homeless charity. If I remember rightly it was stated at the time they were granted, that it would be too expensive to means test it. Anyway with the huge fuel bills we all receive these days, due to a poorly regulated industry, many more older people will die from cold related illnesses,if they are cut, than do already. When people get cold their circulation slows down & the rate of strokes rises - another strain on the NHS
With regards to the bus pass - social lifeline for many older people. My mother in law would not have got out very often if she hadn't had one & social isolation is one of the main factors in depression in older people - more business for the NHS.
A bit of public health cost benefit analysis needs to be undertaken. Why does no one in the government undertake strategic impact analysis?
With our fuel bill being some £1200 I dont think £200 between us is sensible, scrap the fuel allowance and put the money on basic pension! I like my bus pass as I dont drive it is a lifeline, many older people choose not to drive for medical or other reasons so stopping the bus pass would mean these people would be forced to drive or be dependant on others for shopping, doctor visits etc.
It makes me furious when I read that Fox suggests cuts should be made now after the Tory election win rather than later as we're senile so will have forgotten which government was responsible. Or better still, we'll be dead anyway..?
I still can't figure out why the Tories gained a majority. I was hoping for another coalition so they could do less harm. I have no faith whatsoever in the political class - whatever their persuasion. I don't think that most of them have a clue about living on less. They see no harm in cutting tax credits for individuals and families on low pay because they all earn high salaries and have 11% pay rises, or they'll fiddle expenses. Outrageous.
As for me, having contributed to the economy all my working life, paying taxes and National Insurance, I would like it to be recognised that benefits paid to me have been earned over a lifetime and are not a handout. And we are still helping our children and grandchildren by providing free childcare and often some financial assistance too. Where is the respect and care we deserve? And remember many of us with occupational pensions still pay taxes.
Sorry, end of rant....
There are those who don't need the WFA or a bus pass. But the difference is you have to apply for a bus pass, it's not automatic. So those who don't need it generally won't bother to apply.
Yet everybody, regardless of income, gets the WFA. It doesn't gave to be means-tested, that's degrading, expensive and too much red-tape. Just make it that you have to apply for it. Simples!
And they can keep their stupid £10 at Christmas.
What a disgusting man. So callous, he should not be in any job that is paid for by us taxpayers - directly or indirectly
Anya I think that it would still require someone to process the paperwork. My bus pass application had to be sent off to the Council offices. I for one would apply for the WFA as it gives a bit more spending power. Although the £10 doesn't make much difference, I would still want it to put towards presents.
And it is a personal choice - if those who can afford it give it to charity - all well and good.
Historically high public spending levels? Most of western Europe is higher than we are.
I really do not think any of this will happen when they stop and think of all the votes they would lose.
It is one thing to discuss cuts, quite another to use such cynicism. How insulting to the elderly.
Perhaps we need to support the introduction of euthanasia, would save on NHS and we could all be gone by the next election.
Nasty little man. Why not just out the WFA on to every annual state pension? That cuts out the means testing costs possibility, and those who dont need it will get it reduced through taxation anyway. It really is quite simple. These people are bloody fools. We are not.
I meant, of course, Alex Wild, since he is the person reported as saying we'll all have popped off or lost our marbles by the next election.
Liam Fox - a discredited former Defence Secretary who resigned before he was sacked because he allowed a close friend who had no official position and no security clearance - at the expense of the taxpayer - to accompany him on 18 overseas trips, travelling first class and staying a top hotels.
This is the man who says the government should abolish all additional age-related payments to pensioners because the country cannot now, nor will it ever be able to, "afford" them. He refers to there being a "moral" case for reducing public spending - it's a pity that moral case didn't extend to his own and his friend's overseas jollies at the expense of the taxpayer.
54 years old, he is. He will not get his state pension until he's 70, probably, by which time he will be dead, as that's what they are wishing on us.
Think Tank? I don't think they do think. Nasty minded little squirts. Get rid of the 'Think Tanks' and put the money to better use! Wait until they get to be a pensioner, er, no I forgot, they all have gold plated pensions which presumably we will have paid for somewhere down the line! 
It can't be a 'Think Tank', they obviously don't have a brain between them.
OK, abolish all the extra payments and give us the extra by an increase in the State Pension (which is not a benefit)
I thought of that all by myself, without sitting in a tank.
Yes, I can do without the £10 (although I welcome the fuel allowance as it does help with winter bills)
I spend the £10 (plus more) on food for the food bank.
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