Forum Topic

Lord Frost

Lord Frost thinks the Pension Age should be raised to 75. Good Luck if your still here and able to work to 75. Or otherwise in a care home where they can take all your money. What would happen to all the people who like volunteering even after they have given up work, in charity Shops or Friends of the Hospital. That will put pay to grandchildren being looked after in school Holidays.

Barbara Stevens ● 585d26 Comments

So on reflection I thought maybe I was being too reactive and perhaps Lord Frost's comments which initiated Barbara's original post related to something else like Judges and Coroners' mandatory age of retirement being increased to 75 -but no - that happened in 2021.  However I found this in the Daily Mail:https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12586719/amp/Lord-Frost-suggests-state-pension-age-raised-75-shrink-public-spending.htmlAs Barbara says you can't help your genetics - but you will still have to be able to stay fit and well to get there - and although that depends a lot on you yourself it also depends on being able to get medical help and attention in good time when you do need it.

Philippa Bond ● 580d

I didn't hear or read the context of Lord Frost's statement.Perhaps it is simply because like many of the far right he would prefer not to have to pay state pensions to anybody as they would no longer be alive - or provide many public services eg swimming pools and libraries as per Margaret Thatcher's neo-liberalism?Perhaps he thinks it would encourage people to not rely on getting a state pension at the end of their working life by extending working life so long that they will be further encouraged to invest in private pensions that they can take earlier?Perhaps it is an excuse for the failures of Govt Depts?

Philippa Bond ● 581d

A bit of realism needs to be injected into the discussion regarding age and pension.I'm not sure those advocating universal higher pension age would be happy when their house caught fire and a fire engine turned up manned by people in their 70's.Or if being attacked and the 'Old Bill' turned up and were actually old!Some extreme examples but unfortunately average life expectancy does not translate to fit to continue work for a variety of reasons. Take President Biden for example 40% of his time he is apparently on vacation. I'm not sure how that compares with the UK equivalent.Of course if your job just means you can turn up and get paid like a Lord then that is different. Perhaps he is advocating making everyone over a certain age a Lord??

Ed Robinson ● 584d

Phillipa. You can defer your state pension past pension age and it increases by small increments. Possibly worth doing if one's working past pension age and you're going to pay too much tax on it. I'm not giving advice, just saying it's something one might need to consider depending on personal circumstances, health, other private pensions one has, etc.

Michael Ixer ● 584d

Do you remember when all the talk was about having to take your pension when you reached a certain age?  Was it 65? That changed.I think Ivonne is right and if you don't have to take your state pension and don't take it then the Treasury will be very happy with paying out less.  If only we knew how much living and care we had to allow for!Life expectance did level off after rising for quite a while.https://ifs.org.uk/articles/planned-increase-state-pension-age-67-68

Philippa Bond ● 584d

"lagged behind all other G7 countries aside from Germany and France"You mean the apart from the main founding countries of the EU?As for the G7, last time I checked - Japan, Canada & the USA were not in the EU.Could it be that you are saying growth is greater outside the EU???A very strange Remain argument!

Ed Robinson ● 584d

Certainly not a PITA to me. Just boring really. I just paid £6 for a pint of Harvey's in the Cricketers in town when I commented on thd price the landlord said one word brexit. I laughed and said 2 words Railway Bell. it's only £2.85 in there so obviously brexit is a good thing in some pubs but not in others. Or is it simply overcharging and a lame excuse?

Andy Pike ● 584d

Of course Brexit isn't just about any damage to trade or the economy it's aso about lost opportunities because of the cancellation of Erasmus, the disruption to the Horizon Programme, the failure to agree touring rights for musicians, the loss of UK financial services for expats living in the EU (nevermind Farage's "de-banking", trivial in comparison: NatWest instead of Coutts!), ... and when will everyone be happy about the trade agreements in Northern Island that all seemed to be fine before Frost's Withdrawal Agreement?Andy, if you think those of us on the forum are a PITA about Brexit, I can think of some scientists who will give you a half hour rant with a liberal insertion of four letter expletives about it ...

Michael Ixer ● 584d

PS: In any case, you could try reading my post before commenting on it: I did not paint any kind  of analysis of the UK's post-Brexit economic performance.

Richard Carter ● 584d

Perhaps you should have read more of the BBC report before vaingloriously boasting about it:Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the latest ONS release "changes very little"."The data leaves the economy still only 0.6% above its level a year ago," she said."It does not change the big picture that the economy has lagged behind all other G7 countries aside from Germany and France since the pandemic. And that's before the full drag from higher interest rates has been felt."

Richard Carter ● 584d

Mr CarterTwo sources that paint a less gloomy analysis than yours of the UK's post-Brexit economic performance.1) 'Last week the ONS released its latest GDP figures, showing the performance of the UK economy up to Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2023. In the last 10 years GDP has grown by 15%. It has grown by 6% since we voted to leave the EU'.https://facts4eu.org/news/2023_may_uk_growth_beats_no1_eu_state#:~:text=Last%20week%20the%20ONS%20released%20its%20latest%20GDP,6%25%20since%20we%20voted%20to%20leave%20the%20EU.2) From the BBC -https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66957412'The UK's economy has grown faster since the start of the Covid pandemic than initially thought, new figures show.Revised data indicates that the UK has seen faster growth than France or Germany since the end of 2019.The growth figures had been expected to be upgraded, after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published new estimates earlier this month of how the economy had performed since Covid.The latest figures from the ONS indicated that the UK's economy has grown by 1.8% since the pandemic started, whereas the previous estimate was a 0.2% contraction.They also showed that the economy grew by 0.3% in the first three months of this year, up from the 0.1% previously estimated.The estimate for the April-to-June quarter was unchanged at 0.2%.

John Hawkes ● 585d

Correct, Andy. Going over old ground is not relevant, it's the pressure to start rejoining EU Institutions with the aim to rejoining in time ... :-)

Michael Ixer ● 585d

Triple lock 😁though the trikle lick sounds good

Andy Pike ● 585d

Triple lock 😁though the trikle lick sounds good

Andy Pike ● 585d

I have little interest in going over the old ground you guys seem set on doing. It's not perfect but its what we've got and so let's get on with it. Oh by the way Liverpools goal should have stood on Saturday, it didnt! Shame let's move on or will that still be argues about in 7 years. Life's a bitch at times.Barbara I'm not in favour of raising the age, but we must therefore accept that maybe the trilke lick needs review or that we cant afford everything we would like, without upping taxes, and yes I do pay tax too.

Andy Pike ● 585d

Andy don't say on here what I sent you, can you just say got it.

Barbara Stevens ● 585d

Sorry but I think you will find Judges decide the outcome whether the Pension goes up or not. Even though I have put this on the Forum, people who have already retired probably don't care about other people when they retire. But if you see some people struggling, you realize not everybody can work till their 75.  Judges don't care as they probably have numerous properties they can let out and make money.

Barbara Stevens ● 585d

Well, Andy, rather than sniping from the sidelines, perhaps you'd like to set out for us (a) the promises made during the referendum for the benefits of Brexit and(b) the actual benefits now that 7 years have elapsed.

Richard Carter ● 585d

Well, it's probably a reaction to that wind bag Farage who seems to keep pumping out rubbish and the fact that no one seems to be prepared to state any substantial benefits arising from Brexit; I saw a report somewhere about Thérèse Coffey still saying something about repealing laws on bendy bananas but I wasn't sure if that was for real or satire :-)How democratic is a vote based on lies and, probably, the opinion of Russian Tweet bots! 

Michael Ixer ● 585d

I actually find it amusing the levels of wasted ingenuity used to blame everything on 17 million peoples democratic vote.And it wasnt just the elderly who voted that way. But hey, I'll be long gone and it will still be the excuse for failure by some.

Andy Pike ● 585d

Andy. I'm not against raising the pension age if life expectancy is rising. However, I seem to recall reading somewhere recently it had slowed if not actually remained static now. The sort of hike mentioned here seemed ridiculous but I didn't see the original quote just the one posted by Barbara so I'm not sure what context it was made in.Re: Brexit. As far as I concerned anything Lord Frost says is tainted by his Withdrawal Agreement and, to quote some if my younger friends, the stupidity of Brexit voted for by the senile oldies (their words and sentiments not mine). I'll keep going on about it until the younger generation at least get another referendum where they can review the lieds told by Farage, Johnson,  Frost, etc al. If you don’t like it - tough! :-)

Michael Ixer ● 585d

Ffs how the f.. do you manage to bring brexit into everything you talk about !It won't happen cos it's not a vote winner but of course affording pensions in the future is a matter for debate in the same way affording the NHS , adult care, children's services, etc etc.Because we dont like having the discussion shouldnt mean we dont have it.All parties will have the discussion at some point.

Andy Pike ● 585d

Perhaps it's his way of admitting that Brexit and his deal was so damaging to the UK's economy that we have to add another 5+ years to the pension age. Some people work past pension age if they finf their their work rewarding (I did) and sometimes there's the option to work part time. But there's no point in forcing up the pension age if there isn't also a robust law to stop companies discriminating against older workers - if they can't get appropriate jobs no point in raising the pension age unless it's a deliberate move to force people into poverty? Anyway, I can't see that's likely to be a vote winning idea ...

Michael Ixer ● 585d

What age did you retire Philippa, If people work till 75, lets hope they even have the energy afterwards to go swimming and keep fit or visit friends. Some illnesses are hereditary. Some women don't work anyway as their husbands keep them and might not pay much Pension and have to rely on their husbands pension if anything happens to them. Most of us have paid for nearly 45=50 yrs or done 2 jobs. Perhaps they think they deserve to retire. Some continue working because they live on their own or are lonely. But that doesn't mean everybody is able.

Barbara Stevens ● 585d

Children will be sent to school when ill and drugged (if they aren't already) and they are notorious spreaders of bugs!  More people will become ill.The elderly and ill needing help and care at home won't  be getting it from their children either because not enough tax has been paid in for long enough and those children need to support themselves, their children and their careers.It's staggering how much equipment in NHS hospitals has been paid for by donations.People have been living longer with many suffering from longterm health problems which are costly. More needs to be done by all to promote and enable healthy active lifestyles and reduce lifestyle induced illness.  It can be a lot harder to regain good health than to stay healthy.  It is a shame so many swimming pools have closed and are closing when these are good for non-weight bearing exercise and learning to swim is an important life skill easiest and best learnt young.  Hopefully more will be found more sustainable ways of heating.  Green spaces and sports facilities that can be used for exercise by all are important.It is quite shameful that it took so long to increase the pension age from 60 and was done so badly with the problems created for the WASPIs.  Presumably  this was because of the fear of alienating voters.  Why doesn't NI simply continue with the extension of working age?  It would help fill any gaps from university years and child and elderly care commitments which can't be predicted.  The way that NI records are now visible online is a major step forward in allowing people to better understand and take control of future finances.

Philippa Bond ● 585d

Perhaps Lord Frost is thinking how the country would save on not paying pensions as well as more taxes being collected.....  :-( :-( :-(

Ivonne Holliday ● 585d