Go on, generate more GreenHouse gasses....

[Steve-B]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3342475.stm

Cold kills at least 2,500 in past week in UK....

someone better install Scameras all over Britain to save us

[stackmonkey]

..so that the old folks will die slowly instead of quickly..

[Steve-B]

it's a numbers game, all in the numbers......

[dontlift]

"I don't think there are any excuses for British Gas having cut off this couple."

Yes there is - they didnt pay and british gas is a business not a charity...

This is the governments fault for leaving pensioners in such poverty that they cant pay in the first place.

[hedders]

Anyway, the speed kills brigade must love a good funeral procession, it slows down the traffic and makes us think about death

I have to wonder about the concerns from the NHS
"These deaths are an unnecesary drain on the NHS"

(cynical mode on)
I would have thought that if someone was so poor they could not afford to pay a gas bill, they also could not afford to pay to go into an old peoples home. The cost to the government of an old person freezing to death MUST be a whole lot less than putting them in a home for the last ten years of their lives...and then dealing with the body!! Plus in many cases it will free up a council flat enabling them to raise the rent and get a new tenant in...
(cynical mode off)

[dcb]

dontlift said:

This is the governments fault for leaving pensioners in such poverty that they cant pay in the first place.

Doh.

How about the pensioners taking responsibility for themselves ?

i.e. after a lifetime of hard work for most of them, haven't they put a few quid aside over the years to provide for a rainy day ?

If they haven't, then the rest of us have to bail them out through the Government pension system.

If they have, then they can stand up for themselves, like the rest of us ?

[Tafia]

hedders said:

Anyway, the speed kills brigade must love a good funeral procession, it slows down the traffic and makes us think about death I have to wonder about the concerns from the NHS "These deaths are an unnecesary drain on the NHS" (cynical mode on) I would have thought that if someone was so poor they could not afford to pay a gas bill, they also could not afford to pay to go into an old peoples home. The cost to the government of an old person freezing to death MUST be a whole lot less than putting them in a home for the last ten years of their lives...and then dealing with the body!! Plus in many cases it will free up a council flat enabling them to raise the rent and get a new tenant in... (cynical mode off)

Given that quite a few of us die sooner or later, how are two tragically dead folks a drain on the NHS. What on earth are they talking about/

[busa_rush]

"i.e. after a lifetime of hard work for most of them, haven't they put a few quid aside over the years to provide for a rainy day ? "

Years ago the state pension, which is partly what National Insurance was introduced to cover, was sold by the government as the means to support you in your old age. Everybody paid into it in the expectation that it would provide a small but sufficient income to pay bills and food in retirement.

Unfortunately successive governments have allowed the state pension to slide into what's now just pocket money.

[satman]

sorry thought this thread was something to do with the sudden excessive consumption of brussel sprouts over the festive season

:runstoopenwindowtoallowgasestoescape:

[nightowl]

dcb said:

dontlift said: This is the governments fault for leaving pensioners in such poverty that they cant pay in the first place. Doh. How about the pensioners taking responsibility for themselves ? i.e. after a lifetime of hard work for most of them, haven't they put a few quid aside over the years to provide for a rainy day ? If they haven't, then the rest of us have to bail them out through the Government pension system. If they have, then they can stand up for themselves, like the rest of us ?

But as this case is odd because they had £300 in the house and £19000 in the bank.

[getcarter]

dcb said:

dontlift said: This is the governments fault for leaving pensioners in such poverty that they cant pay in the first place. Doh. How about the pensioners taking responsibility for themselves ? i.e. after a lifetime of hard work for most of them, haven't they put a few quid aside over the years to provide for a rainy day ? If they haven't, then the rest of us have to bail them out through the Government pension system. If they have, then they can stand up for themselves, like the rest of us ?

Sorry mate... (now on soap box). You have to understand that a lot of these old folks may have shed loads in the bank, but not enough brain power left to write a cheque.

I post this having watched a rich uncle die last year not knowing what a 10p was, and am currently nursing a mother with alzheimer's who thinks a house costs about £10.

I hope you don't end up like that, and have to deal with views like yours. A little compassion and understanding will go a long way to help.

(now off soap box)

Steve

[dcb]

busa_rush said:

Years ago the state pension, which is partly what National Insurance was introduced to cover, was sold by the government as the means to support you in your old age. Everybody paid into it in the expectation that it would provide a small but sufficient income to pay bills and food in retirement.

And as everyone knows the Government couldn't organise a beer drinking competition in a brewery [IMHO], hence the pragmatic reality of relying one oneself, not others (via the Government) to do it for you.

All the same, reduced state pension does mean lower taxes for the rest of us.

This isn't often mentioned in the media.

With a population lasting much longer, this matters a lot.