Mims Davies MP shares Support for Pensioners from the Conservative Government, meanwhile Labour does not have a plan to support pensioners.
We've increased the State Pension by over £3,700 since 2010, and delivering on our promise to provide dignity in retirement.
From 1st April 2024, we will have increased the basic State Pension by £3,736 since 2010, ensuring pensioners’ have the income they need to live in dignity thanks to the Triple Lock.
Despite calling for an uplift in pensions, Labour always used September inflation data to set welfare increases when they were last in government. Throughout the period that Jonathan Ashworth was a Special Adviser to Gordon Brown (2004 to 2010), Labour used the September inflation data for pension increases (DWP, National statistics, 25 January 2022).
Under Labour, the number of people saving into employer-sponsored pensions in the private sector fell by more than 25 per cent. Between 1997 and 2010, employee membership of employer-sponsored pensions in the private sector fell from 46 per cent to 34 per cent – a decrease of 26 per cent (ONS, Private Pension Scheme Membership, 17 July 2012).
We've protected the Triple Lock and uprating the State Pension by 8.5% in April 2024, protecting pensioners’ incomes. We have protected the Triple Lock we introduced in 2011 and will uprate the State Pension by 8.5% in April 2024 in line with average earnings growth, meaning pensioners will receive up to £900 more a year.
We are delivering nearly 12 million Winter Fuel Payments and Pensioner Cost of Living Payments to pensioners this winter, helping to protect the most vulnerable. 11.9 million payments, worth £4.8 billion, have been made to pensioners across the UK, providing vulnerable households up to £600 to help with their energy bill this winter.
We've abolishing the Pensions Lifetime Tax Allowance, incentivising more experienced workers including GPs to stay in work for longer. We have abolished the Pensions Lifetime Tax Allowance protecting over 80% of NHS doctors from receiving a tax charge on their pension and incentivising them to stay in or return to the workforce.
We've reduced the number of pensioners living in absolute poverty by more than 200,000 since 2010, supporting those most in need. Since 2010, there are 200,000 fewer pensioners living in absolute poverty after housing costs, as we protect the most vulnerable in society. Under Labour, we had the 4th highest-level of pensioner poverty among the over 65s in Europe. Nearly a third of those over 65 were living on below average incomes - one of the highest levels in Europe behind only Cyprus, Latvia and Estonia (Daily Mail, 27 July 2009).
We've delivered wide ranging pension reforms that will see the typical pension boosted by £1,000 a year, helping people save for their retirement. The Chancellor’s ‘Mansion House Reforms’ could unlock an additional £75 billion for high growth businesses, while reforms to defined contribution pension schemes will increase a typical earner’s pension pot by 12% over the course of a career.
Labour are refusing to say how they will fund social care reforms in their manifesto due to fear they will be attacked during the election campaign, as they do not have a plan. The Guardian reported that Labour is preparing to omit details of how to fund a reformed social care system from its next election manifesto due to fears of attack during the election campaign (The Guardian, 15 October 2023).
Labour failed to solve the future of social care because they did not have a plan, despite their promises in government. Despite promising to solve social care in their 1997 manifesto, a Royal Commission, two Green Papers and a pledge to address it in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, Labour left office without delivering it (Labour Party, Manifesto 1997, link; DH, Shaping the Future of Care Together, 14 July 2009).
Rachel Reeves failed to set out how Labour would fund the NHS to reform social care because they do not have a plan. STUDIO: ‘How else are we going to help the NHS and the care system out of what happened during the pandemic?’ REEVES: ‘Labour have always supported our national health service... The problem with National Insurance is that is a tax purely on people who go to work and those who employ them. So for example, if you earn an income through dealing in stocks and shares, you don't pay a penny more in National Insurance (GMB, 31 March 2022).