22nd November 2013 - Friday

I always like to watch BBC's Question Time if I can, because I enjoy some good political argument and to hear not only the inevitable MPs battling it out, but also well informed guests from other walks of life adding their views. Sadly this has been going off track lately, and I hope that it is only a phase. Tonight it reached a pitch and I turned it off in disgust.

The reason was that the non-MP guests had been unable to appear due to a train delay, leaving just three MPs on the panel. One of the first questions involved the inevitable "Should pensioners give up their benefits in this time of austerity? query. 

To my horror, the Liberal-Democrat MP, of all people, kicked off by referring to pensioners as though we were ALL wealthy property-owning baby boomers. Well, for her information, we are NOT. I am not. In my mid fifties I was £3000 in debt and owned no property. I still own no property. I depend on my State pension, plus some very small work pension income earned during the final stages of my working life, 

And I am not alone. There are many pensioners in this area who are in a similar position. In the media we frequently see pensioners having to decide whether or not to keep warm or eat. So why do many MPs appear to be woefully ignorant of the way we have to live? I'm lucky. I am warm and well fed, thanks to a very happy marriage. 

However, my point is that I get very angry when MPs threaten to take away the minor, - yes, minor - benefits we have been granted through bus passes and prescriptions. We still contribute around £30billion per annum to this country and still pay tax in most cases. I've been paying tax for the past 47 years and probably will do until I die. The tax-free threshold hardly even covers the old age pension for most of us, and anything extra, like my tiny work pension income is taxed.

I am proud to pay my fair share of tax, but I do NOT like being referred to as a "wealthy property owning baby boomer". 

I am not.