Reader’s letter: Not telling the whole story
How disappointing that Robert Jenrick in last week’s Advertiser should resort to Trump-style political hostility and untruths against the new government.
He doesn’t mention the £2.75 trillion national debt left by the Conservatives or the broken state of all the public services.
Most people would accept that taxes inevitably have to rise for all, to contribute to measures to bring more stability to our wonderful country.
The winter fuel payments will automatically still be made to all pensioners that are entitled to pension credit.
The new generation of baby boomer pensioners will mostly have additional work-based pensions so will arguably not really need the winter fuel allowance and apparently over 25% of pensioners are millionaires, that won’t really need it .
I agree that the middle section of pensioners may have welcomed the additional fund, but at least the triple lock scheme secured an 8.5% pension increase last April and a forecast of £400 increase next April.
Rachel Reeves wanted to use the savings towards bolstering primary care and the NHS.
In saying this, I also do think it would have been more equitable and lucrative in the first instance to have made a small increase in income tax to the higher earners in our society.
I do not see Keir Starmer as capitulating to the trade unions by swiftly addressing the plight of the hard working, academic conscientious, stretched and burned-out junior doctors by awarding them a 22% pay rise over two years, but applaud him.
He at least had the decency and respect to communicate with them.
Since the banking crisis of circa 2008 austerity measures had to be enforced resulting in nought to below inflationary pay rises for public services for over a decade circa 2008-2022 resulting in approx. 26% drop in income, whereas MPs over the same period awarded themselves over 37% increase in salaries, despite saying ‘we are all in this together.’
One of the main reasons for the collapse of Robin Hood Energy was the continued reduction in government funding to local councils.
How shameful Mr Jenrick to ignore the suicide of respected and hardworking head teacher Mrs. Perry, which has led to the scrapping of the one-word OFSTED school rating, which will surely lead to a more accurate school assessment by parents.
The Great British Energy initiative, that Mr Jenrick brushes aside, has at least unblocked the Conservative ban on onshore wind and unblocked the production of cheap solar energy, and invested in new technologies such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy, so British bill payers and communities will reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy.
I do, however, thank Mr Jenrick for his contribution in securing funding for better transport routes to and around Newark. — LINDA BENNETT, via email.
