Nobbut Laiking, by Ross Brewster
Then an old pensioner came in sight, gathering winter fue-el.
No. I’m not practising for some Christmas choir performance. I think I may have predicted a while back that one of the new Labour Government’s first actions would be to sting the pensioners. And so it came to pass.
I can see why they are withdrawing the winter fuel allowance. On the face of it is an easy option. And I would agree many don’t need it. But not targeting every pensioner not claiming benefits surely. There are thousands of old people existing on their state pensions who aren’t getting other benefits.
Good King Wenceslas may yet be needed to bestow his offices on those poor old souls who, if not out gathering winter fuel, may have to rely on food banks for winter sustenance.
The Chancellor’s announcement that we oldies are going to lose our winter fuel payment came as no great surprise. As seems to be the case with all Government announcements these days, Labour or Tory, they are trailed all over the news media days before the Commons officially hears of them.
Mr Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, repeatedly chided Conservative ministers for letting the cat out of the bag and disrespecting Parliament. He may have a good deal of chiding to do in future.
What came as a surprise in the new Iron Chancellor’s first major statement is that, so soon into their reign, Labour chose to pick on the pensioners, the very people who looked on them as a friend.
I am not saying thousands of us of pensionable age can’t survive without the fuel allowance. I know some who even donate their share to charity.
Labour will bend over backwards to satisfy the demands of the unions. The junior doctors are getting a 22 per cent increase and now the GPs are threatening to work to rule.
For the unions it will be a case of “next” in the waiting room with their wage demands.
But the manner in which Rachel Reeves, with a black hole in the nation’s finances to solve, dismissed the pensioners as a soft touch smacks of a cheap shot.
It isn’t right that the same fuel payment should go to millionaires as well as paupers. But memories are short and some of us, looking at our bank statements, have cause to remember last winter’s rising fuel prices.
For many pensioners it’s a case of jam today — just about managing. One extra, unexpected bill can throw their finances into the red.
I suppose if there’s ever going to be a time to be unpopular it’s now, with the honeymoon period speedily running out for the new Government.
I don’t need a crystal ball to forecast it won’t just be pensioners feeling the pain as they stagger to doctors’ surgeries suffering from hypothermia and pneumonia should we experience a winter freeze. Global warming won’t save us every winter. If in doubt just check it out with old Wenceslas.
OAP’s today, council tax banding and petrol prices tomorrow. Just a couple of ideas for the chancellor when she reveals her next hand in October. Be prepared.
Anti-social media
It was one of the great advances of our age. But now it’s the beast in the cellar, threatening to break loose with its new best pal artificial intelligence, to destroy us.
Like the nuclear bomb, the internet can’t be dis-invented. Nor would we want it to be. It has changed our lives for the better in so many ways.
It’s given a voice to the disenfranchised, kept us in touch with friends and family all over the world and enabled us to share interests with people we’d otherwise never have got to know.
But it’s also become a vehicle for people who have evil intentions. Increasingly social media has turned into an unregulated free for all and the impact of that has been seen on the streets of several of our towns and cities in the past couple of weeks.
Agitators can ply their disinformation and lies across the web and the social media companies don’t do a thing about it.
It’s easy for these bad actors to gather a multitude of criminals, thugs and the merely bored and resentful rump of society, to riot in the streets, attack the police and burn and loot property.
The internet can be a forum for disinformation and conspiracy theories and anonymous threats and it only takes a couple of website posters to mobilise the mob.
When are the social media companies going to be held accountable for some of the disgusting content they host on their platforms?
Don’t hold your breath for any meaningful action.
… and to cap it all off
I’m currently suffering from a sore lip after I was attacked by a Coca-Cola bottle at a cricket match last week. One of those new bottle tops that are virtually impossible to open or drink from without the risk of personal injury or a major spillage.
My lip got caught on the jagged edge of the cap. And the inside of a lacerated lip bleeds — profusely.
Be warned. These new EU style bottle caps are dangerous.
