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Sir Keir Starmer has been condemned for snubbing Britain’s elderly after he arrogantly refused to respond to a petition pleading for pensioners not to be dragged into paying tax. Four weeks ago, the campaign group Silver Voices delivered a major petition to No 10 warning the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves that taxing the state pension would be a “fundamental mistake”.
Backed by the Daily Express, the petition received a whopping 115,000 signatures before being delivered to Sir Keir’s front door in Downing Street. Support has since grown to 125,000. However, a whole month later, neither the Prime Minister nor the Chancellor have responded. Dennis Reed, director of the over-60s campaign group, said a petition last autumn on the scrapping of Winter Fuel Payments also went unanswered, although the Government blamed this on an “administrative oversight”.
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Dennis Reed handed in the petition four weeks ago, but is yet to receive a response (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster/Daily Express)
This time, however, he warned there was “no excuse” for snubbing Britain’s most vulnerable.
Mr Reed told the Express that the snub showed the Government simply is not bothered about Britain’s pensioners.
He blasted: “When you hand in a detailed petition on behalf of over 100,000 people, the least you should expect is a courteous reply from the Prime Minister and Chancellor answering the points that are made in it.
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“This anti-pensioner Government sends the Deputy Prime Minister to try to sort out a local Unite dispute and recalls Parliament to save jobs in the steel industry, but can’t be bothered to consider the implications of the basic state pension being taxed, even though it impacts a fifth of the UK population.”
A recent Freedom of Information request revealed that Ms Reeves’s decision to freeze the tax thresholds will drag nearly 12million more people into paying income tax for the first time over the next three years.
In total, 5.4million of them will be over 60, and 3.4million will be in their 70s.
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Neither Rachel Reeves nor Keir Starmer have responded to the petition (Image: Getty)
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Former prime minister Rishi Sunak highlighted the problem during last year’s General Election, when he pointed out that the pension triple lock, when paired with frozen income tax thresholds, would eventually lead to those on the basic state pension paying tax for the first time.
Mr Sunak proposed the so-called "triple lock plus” as a policy solution, which would mean the personal allowance for pensioners increasing at the same rate to prevent elderly people falling into the tax trap.
During the campaign, Labour described the Tories’ policy as “desperate” and not “credible”.
Silver Voices' letter to the Chancellor and PM, delivered in March, called on the lower tax threshold to be immediately increased by at least ￡1,000 for state pensioners, “and thereafter uprated on the basis of the triple lock increases each year”.
It also set out why taxing the basic state pension would be both unfair and impractical, as it would reduce the basic premise of the pension as a safeguard for dignity in retirement.
It warned: “For the basic state pension to be taxed will force more older people into poverty.”
Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesperson Steve Darling said: “Pensioners have seen their already stretched budgets hammered by rising bills, their winter fuel payments stripped and this next hit will come as another bitter blow.”
“This Labour Government has treated pensioners appallingly. It left many choosing between heating and eating with no end in sight for the difficulties millions are suffering through.
“We Liberal Democrats were proud to have brought in the triple lock and will stand shoulder to shoulder with pensioners as the Conservatives take aim at it and the Labour government slashes support.”
Lee Anderson says the snub shows the Government's 'outright hostility' towards pensioners (Image: Getty)
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Reform UK’s Lee Anderson said: “It turns out the Government’s indifference, if not outright hostility, to pensioners knows no bounds.
“Despite writing to the Government and collecting over 115,000 signatures on their petition, Silver Voices have not even had the courtesy of an acknowledgement or a single reply to any of their correspondence.
“This is an example of the hostile environment that the Labour Government is creating for pensioners, making it as difficult as possible for them to enjoy a good quality of life towards the end of their days.
A Treasury spokesman failed to explain why Silver Voices’ petition had gone unanswered.
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The spokesman said: “We are committed to helping our pensioners live their lives with dignity and respect, which is why we have frozen fuel duty and increased the state pension to leave pensioner couples up to ￡88 better off a month.
“Our commitment to the triple lock means millions will see their pension rise by up to ￡1,900 this parliament.”
A government source argued: “The state pension is a form of income and is therefore taxable. Social security benefits are treated differently depending on why they are paid. Generally, benefits that are designed to replace income are taxable, including the state pension.”