General Chat

People just above the poverty line are not rich and lack of heating allowance will be a great hardship for them. Linking benefits to earnings is a safety net for those who do not earn any cash in hand. We cannot exclude this group on the basis that some are earning cash in hand and not declaring it.

But Barbara. How many are working and getting paid under the table as well as collecting benefits.

How many people working for themselves put down all their earnings especially if it means being above the limit for heating allowance

Everyone fills in a tax return so the government already knows everyones income. Why can't this information be used to target the people who need the unclaimed benefits and allocate heating allowance

The cost of organising & running 'means testing' would probably be more than the possible payout savings.

I suppose it's no good us all getting upset about things until we know how they pan out, we might even get some extra bonuses that we didn't expect. Time will tell!

Lizx

Barbra, I am not sure I would cope on a desert island without a computer and a phone and lots of other things, I like my comfort too much, couldn't cope with roughing it in a tent or such lol

LindaB
I agree ex pats shouldnt expect to receive heat allowances once they leave but they do and get them.

The whole system is wrong and unsustainable. UK will be borrowing more money to pay these costs but it cant last forever.

Whats wrong with means testing????

I so agree Joan. My OH and I worked in full time employment all our working lives and payed into private pension funds for our retirement. Our private pensions are only small and they take us just over the threshold where we have to pay full local council tax and don't receive any kind of benefit apart from the heating allowance.

Quinsgran....Then you will have people saying they paid their taxes when they lived in England so they are entitled.

If expats wish to retire to warmer climes that is their wish and should not expect to receive heating allowances that beggars belief. It was their decision to move from the UK so how can they expect to receive! They have decided to take their monies abroad...do they pay tax on them to the UK? What we pay in tax over the year on our private pensions far outweighs the amount we receive in our heating allowance.

Linda x

Then you will have people saying they paid their taxes when they lived in England so they are entitled.

One thing about ex pats who leave to live overseas. The new country pays for future hospital treatment etc. We cost more as we age.
Uk is a soft touch really

Amokavid.
That is why I said means testing should be done sensibly according to each persons needs. If you live in a colder area and prove your heating bills cost you plenty then you should receive the extra.

Dont forget you have people who have retired to hot climates such as Spain and they still receive the heating allowance if they received it before they left.the UK.

How long do you think tax payers can afford to pay them especially when many might be millionaires

I'm with Quinsgran with the means test however I wonder how I would feel if I had 2p too much to qualify.

I'm sure I would be upset

"It's a pity those who say they can run the country are either Taxi Drivers or Barbers".

DAVID CAMERON HAS NEVER WORKED, LET ALONE HELD A MINISTERIAL POSITION, SO HOW THE BLOODY HELL DOES HE KNOW HOW TO RUN THE COUNTRY.

ME THINKS WE'LL ALL BE HIBERNATING IN THE WINTER, COS WE WON'T BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE COST OF HEATING.

Whats wrong with means testing so long as its done in a sensible way and the money goes to those who really need it.

Whats the point of a wealthy person getting a heating allowance. They dont need it.
Give more to those that do

Joan, he won't do much for us I am sure so don't blame you for stocking up, especially with the weather we had last winter.

Good thing you could have your celebrations recently and have paid that mortgage off.

take care,

Lizx

I just cannot stand the man..... sorry David.
They do say, "don't judge a book by it's cover'...... But I will 'iffin' I want to! ;-P
Deanna X

Dear All

Hello

Hope you are keeping well.

I am normally a peaceful person.......but I cannot stand David Cameron.

He has no experience of politics whatsoever and its his money that got him through.

Rant over!

Take care
Very best wishes
xx

NHS dentists started to disappear under the last Tory government. Labour failed when it overturned this contact and put in place an even worse one granted. Tories are not the answer I think a cabinet with representation from all parties a true coalition is the way to go then hopefully the best from all parties can make this country a better place

Many MPs from all parties have had selective and private education at school and then on to top universities and many went in to jobs far removed from the ordinary "man/woman in the street,before they went into politics

The health/education/armed forces/transport etc are led by ministers who dont have a clue what happens in those professions and have never worked in those areas.

This would never happen in other jobs/professions

So really none of them are able to understand what the public are going through on a day to day basis

Expenses are another issue and many as we know feathered their own nests.

There are good and not so good mps in all parties

Teresa

David Cameron has never held a ministerial post, has he? He comes very untrained so to speak.
Wonder how things will go when his wife goes into labour lol, will he take paternity leave? Not the best time to have a new baby on the way for that family, perhaps.

Lizx

Hi Barbara

that's what I am concerned about too, he doesn't know how the real people live or even just exist. What empathy will he have with pensioners struggling to eat or heat? And he will push his 'marriage is best' views onto anything he can, so penalising those who chose to live together without marriage or those who maybe cannot marry, some Catholics have partners who won't divorce perhaps or other reasons.

It would have been a lot better to have some of each party involved so there was a more balanced view and maybe also it would have stopped all the time spent slagging each other off instead of dealing with real issues, as that's what seems to happen a lot of the time!

Oh well, it'll be a waiting game for us all to see how it affects us.
Heaven help us, cos the policitians don't/won't!

Lizx