Costs in genral have gone uk by way more then 700 a year.
For those renting
Rent alone will be higher the. That. And housing benifit etc is means tested the same way this is now.
That said. As I have said elaewhere in the thread.
If this payment is the dif between life and death. Then this is clearly not the issue. But the level of means testing. And media history of negativity to claiming benifits is.
They will do this in a heartbeat, 4,000 dead people barely registers in the mind of a true market believer. They will gleefully murder those 4000 people, then call you the idiot for having a problem with it because look how good death is for the economy.
If £200 a year on fuel bills. Is the difference between them dying or living. The issue is not really that £200.
The issue is one of 2 very clear things.
1st to few pensioners entitled to pension benefits not claiming.
Something the government is trying to solve. But 50 years of media negativity towards benefits claimants has a lot to do with that. Many of these people grew old under constant negativity towards needing welfare.
2nd, the level pension benefits are paid out at is far too low.
While, it truly bothers me that labour has not insisted on resolving that issue at the same time as means testing a benefit that clearly goes to people who are not in need. £200 a year is not nearly enough to make a huge difference here. Given the numbers. 4 to 6k a year of extra income before these benefits are capped is more the number. Especially when you consider for those renting. Housing benefit is linked to the same means test. The last few years of rent rises will outweigh that 200 a year hugely.
Can I 'yes, and' that with the point that simply giving more money to poor people is now pretty well established to be good for both them and the economy
As opposed to the conservatives, who just connive and scam and destroy public services. Labour have been in power for a couple of months, and have twelve years of the worst government imaginable to try to correct. The utter incompetence, corruption and mismanagement of the conservatives have left them with a multi-billion deficit to try to correct, I’d be shocked if they got everything right in trying to steer that sinking ship