stop Clegg removing the free bus pass for pensioners
Nick clegg wants to means test pensioners bus pass which allows them free transport on local buses anywhere in England
vicki gilbert
shared this idea
112 comments
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joan
commented
Many pensioners who pay tax actually receive less money than pensioners who get bennefits and do not pay tax when you add up the cost of their total benefit package.
i.e. housing rent, council tax, supplementary pension and some get disability allowances/attendance allowances too. To removethe benefits outlined from all tax paying pensioners would marginalise a large majority of them and make them substantially worse off than pensioners on benefits. -
Andrew Rendel
commented
I think it's a shame that this comments board has been so knee juerk on this question. I understand why rich pensioners wouldn't want this (poor pensioners wouldn't be affected) but many of the other commentators don't seem to have really considered the issue.
We live in an era of difficult choices. I'd prefer a slower reduction of the defiict, and yes I'd prefer the process to be waited more towards tax rises than the current preference for cuts but the "pensioner perks" just don't make sense (unless you're a rich pensioner!)
For pensioner's who aren't able to or don't want to access busses, tv's etc. these benefits are useless. I would support Nick Clegg on this one and even suggest he goes further. All free bus passes, t.v. licences, winter fuel payments etc. should be removed entirely and the savings should be spent on increasing benefits for the poorest who are being hit really hard in the current recession.
This would be fairer, simpler and more efficient. Though of course it doesn't have such good headlines for the politicians...
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Maurice
commented
(Writing as an autistic bus pass holder in Scotland) Has anyone noticed a social discrimination there will be in this, totally apart from the money? Think of all the practical problems, all the pigheaded barriers to transport, that come from your bus ticket only being valid on the company that issued it, and the expense or impracticality of extending your journey onto another company's bus even if it would form a sensible journey on the map. Or the frustration when your company's bus does not come while other companies' buses to the same destination pass you. Think of the difference made by an inter-company bus pass, all folks who don't get that are getting a worse level of citizenship. I can tell you that no longer having to worry about bus companies is the most marvellous practical difference bus passes make.
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Anonymous
commented
Disgraceful. Having a buss pass means we get out of the house which in turn keeps us happy and healthy. We don't have ministerial limousines!
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Ruth R. Berkley
commented
this is a vital benefit for pensioners and reduces their isolation
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Peter W Skevington
commented
I find it extraordinary that the leader of a left of centre is proposing this. For a non driver like me the concessionary bus pass coupled with the Tyne and Wear Metro Gold Card costing £25 p a enables me to travel widely, easily and frequently in order to pursue research interests, hobbies etc,appreciate the North East town and countryscape as well as, importantly, spend my money supporting local businesses and communities of my choice,thus benefitting the local economy. Clegg should join the Tory Party and give up his liberal pretensions.
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Rosy Martin
commented
Bus passes enable old people to have some kind of life and connection. 'Rich' older people use cars anyway - so will not miss out - it is a targeted benefit anyway. The funding of rural buses is also dependent upon this support. Bus passes should remain a universal benefit for pensioners
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Anonymous
commented
Why should anyone be surprised There are no depths to which they will not stoop
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Lewis
commented
Glegg and the Liberals be trusted. When they were in power in Twickenham, they brought out Smart cars with cameras popping out of the roof. This was to issue as many tickets as possible to motorists. The Conservatives are now in and thankfully someone came to their senses and they have now been removed.
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Anonymous
commented
Nick Clegg is a real hypocrite! He is more concerned about promoting his pet subject like reforming the House of Lords than in tackling the real problems of social injustice which we the pensioners and ordinary people are facing daily. He is all talk about promoting social mobility because he knows this is a populus subject and puts him in the limelight and nothing more. Get him to put money where his mouth is and you'll see his real colour then. Now he is thinking of removing free bus pass for pensioners despite knowing this will have great impact on the social mobility of pensioners who are living only on basic pensions and nothing more. Let's organise a rally and ask him to put himself into our shoes and see if he can survive on just the basic pensions without the extra help we benefit from with our free bus pass!
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Thomas cooper
commented
Will the cost of means testing equal the savings made? I s this a nother one of the governments ways of putting money into their friends pockets, Who has shares in ATOS?
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Thomas cooper
commented
All other benifits are means tested so that all your years of saving for your retirement are cancelled out through paying full rent, rates, spectacles, dentistry and many other things his was the one thing I could use to save a few pounds. Not using the car for easy journies saved money and the environment.
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Thomas cooper
commented
This has been the best thing for poor pensioners , fre travel has really brightened up their days and brought out of town supermarkets and fresh markets within their reach
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Jan
commented
Which agency/company will get the contract to administer the means testing? Will their fee, or the costs of administering this test, be less than the costs of *wealthy* pensioners using a free bus pass?
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Anonymous
commented
Thats right , extend the pass to everyone, that would be a much more efficient way of putting more money into the economy than more quantitative easing. Quantitative easing goes into bank vaults to swel their reserves (not as the clowns ,osborne cameron, intended to boost lending to business) and indirectly, to pay for bankers bonuses.
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Anonymous
commented
Why should wealthy pensioners get free travel while people desperate for work are often denied it because of travel costs? Transport subsidies should be based on need, not age.
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Huw
commented
Under this system the queen gets a free bus pass... its not being removed, but should a millionaire pensioner get a free bus pass? Make the rich pay their way, then there's more money to help those who truly need it.
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Anonymous commented
I say anything that keeps pensioners active and outgoing should be nurtured, not snatched away. Travelling keeps a pensioner's mind more active, and keeps them interested in life. Don't take their pass away!
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Anonymous
commented
Low interest rates which benefit younger people with mortgages and credit card bills to pay off hit older people who have been careful with their money and saved for their retirement especially hard. The free bus pass is parial compensation for that.
Also, if you think that this government would use any money saved on the bus pass for +extra+ spending on the the NHS or other purpose you have greater faith in Billy Bunter (Cameron) and co than I do. They would be more likely to use it to pay down the national debt, thus sucking even more money out of the economy and throwing more younger people out of work -
Scott
commented
I and my wife enjoy the freedom and benefits that the bus pass gives us.
I was born during the war and had the "benefit" of paltry family income diet and living conditions a father called up the day war was declared, was at dunkirk and D-day +10 and had a menial job at the pit.On a minimal income they scraped enough together to keep my brothers and I at grammar school.University was never an option free or not.New clothes,treats,trips out and all the other joys of life that those born after the 60's seem to think fell into our laps are figments of their imagination.Don't trust the Tories, by definition they are takers not givers.
