Pensioners will suffer most under the measures announced in the emergency budget.
The much heralded "Triple Lock" on state pension whilst welcome in principle will in fact make no difference at all in the immediate future as given the freeze in public sector pay and the extra 1 million unemployed, wage inflation is expected to be well below price inflation.
Meanwhile the link between Pension Credit and earnings has been broken. The upper limit of the Pension Guarantee will only increase in line with the cash increase in basic state pension.
The increase in of £1000 in personal allowance will have no benefit to pensioners at all because the age allowance has not been increased.
So a worker on say £19000 per annum will receive a tax reduction of £250 but a pensioner on £10000 will get nothing.
In 2011 basic state pension will increase in line with RPI but thereafter it will be linked to CPI which historically is always less. The real inflation rate for pensioners is typically about twice RPI so we will be even worse off.
SERPS and Graduated pension which can be quite significant for some pensioners will be immediately linked to CPI.
Winter Fuel Allowance will drop compared to last year by £50 per household, £100 for over 80s at a time when wholesale energy prices are increasing. Last year saw a record 40000 avoidable deaths amongst older people due to the combination of cold and hunger. What a shocking indictment of this once great country.
The on year freeze on council tax is conditional on Councils keeping their costs down - what chance of that in Cheshire East?
The VAT increase will of course hit everyone, but those on incomes of £1000 - £15000 which includes many pensioners will suffer most.
Can we find anything positive about this budget. Well at least they have abandoned the ludicrous proposal of the last government to add a broadband tax to all telephone landlines
