If you’ve worked hard all your life, paid your taxes, looked after your family, done the right thing – then you deserve to retire with peace of mind and with dignity. That’s what I believe, and that’s what the Conservative Party believes. And it’s why our Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will be protecting pensioner benefits in the next Parliament if Conservatives win the election in May.
I’m incredibly proud of what the Conservatives have already done in this Parliament to ensure older generations living in Britain will have a secure retirement. We’ve guaranteed the value of a state pension with the triple-lock – meaning it will always increase in line with the largest of earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent. As a result, the annual basic state pension has risen £800 since 2010, when we came to power.
We’ve also simplified the state pension so people know exactly what they’ll get, how they’ll get it, so that no-one misses out. And while many people will want to retire when the time comes, we’ve abolished the default retirement age for those people who want to continue to work and enjoy the same job security as young people.
One of the boldest reforms we’ve made to pensions is giving people more freedom over how they access their savings. From April 2015, 18 million people retiring will have total freedom over how they spend their pensions. Gone are the days when people are forced to buy an annuity and we’ve scrapped the unjust 55 per cent tax rate people had been charged for taking out more than their tax-free lump sum.
We’ve also made sure people don’t have to sell their homes to pay for social care. From April 2016 the Government will pay for people’s care once the cost to them hits £72,000. And we’ve introduced a £140 discount on electricity bills for the most vulnerable.
Speaking in Hastings, Kent, last week, David Cameron said he will give everyone the help they deserve in later life by protecting pensioner benefits like the free bus pass, TV licences and winter fuel payment. I think that’s absolutely right and I’m appalled at Labour’s reaction which has been to threaten to take away free bus passes from some pensioners and cut the basic state pension by £234 a year.
That said, what can you expect from a party who failed the older generations? When in power, Labour gave pensioners insulting pension rises as low as 75p; pensioners who wanted to work were forced to retire; and thousands of people a year had to sell their homes to pay for social care.
I know how hard my parents worked and the sacrifices they made to give me a good home and help me to succeed in life. We all owe so much to our parents and to older generations and want them to have a happy and secure retirement. Only a Conservative Government can ensure Britain has a strong economy, so we can ensure our parents, our grandparents and future generations of older people in Britain retire in comfort and with the dignity they deserve.
