Honestly I hope they do this. Too many rich pensioners don’t need these sorts of benefits get them by default and don’t care. I’d rather they save some money and use the cash to help more people who may not be state pension age
Well, us old bastards are going to pay for staying alive to long. We’re being punished to warn the rest of you in our new less comfortable world. I expect to see at some point Euthanasia being discussed.
I’m sure Labour have looked at their expenses and seen the disproportionate amount that pensioners have been getting when compared to others but they need to tread carefully. Working families need to see some relief and more people struggling isn’t going to help overall.
I’m not disagreeing with this choice.
We should give bus passes to everyone, not just school-aged children and pensioners.
Where does the cost of an OAP bus pass fall? Does the DWP have to pay the local bus companies for them?
My parents have qualified for them for nearly 30 years now and I’m very confident in saying my Dad hasn’t taken a bus once in that time. Did it cost anyone anything if he did have one? If he had used one would it have cost anyone anything more than marginal impact on any overcrowding and a tiny amount of additional fuel by increasing the weight being moved by a half of one percent?
On the flip side for the last few years of his now (thankfully) terminated driving it would certainly have been better for everyone if he had been in a bus.
I don’t want old people driving – their reaction times are worse than younger people after a few drinks. Let them keep the bus pass.
Will they scrap it for the 71% of social housing that don’t do a days work and can’t speak a word of English nor even want to?
Well, mine is gifted to me by Czar Khan, and the London Boroughs. It allows me to travel after 9:30. We know it colloquially as the TWIRLY Card. As in “Oh, have you turned up too early as well?”
Considering how much of our society has been built around needing a vehicle to get around I think the least we can do is allow those who don’t have access to such a vehicle a way to do so.
Not sure about this one. Getting people out of their cars and into buses is good for the environment, traffic flow and future investment.
If you means test, the rich pensioners will inevitably have cars so they’ll just go back to those.
I’m waiting to see what comes from this budget in October before I make my mind up on Labours plans, BUT they havent been giving the greatest signals to people so far.
We are a more divided nation than ever before when it comes to wealth, and there are some really easy ways of getting the rich & wealthy to pay their fair share. Council tax reforms is the most obvious one I can think of, why should someone who can afford a £10M home in London pay less or the same than a semi detached up north ?
Labour need to go after the big fish!
I have two elderly relatives. Both in their 80s. One has the lowest state pension, no other income and gets by on a few hundred quid a month. The other is ridiculously wealthy, with income of over 4K a month through private pensions. They both received winter fuel allowance and free bus passes. It feels one is far more deserving than the other.
I don’t particularly want to encourage people to keep driving into old age. Bring in mandatory driving re tests at 65 and periodically after that; anyone who fails gets the free bus pass.
It should be means tested except pensions. Which will no doubt take the hit right before I retire.
We just need to make sure the line is drawn to avoid poverty. Controversial, but I think the winter fuel allowance is a little low and a slight lift would go a long long way
The mobility scheme needs trimming, not the bus passes.
This is a benefit I don’t think people should mind imo. I think there’s a strong argument that it should be for pensioners and not 60+ as some areas provide.
I think it’s a net benefit to get pensioners active and mobile and it’s societal good for a small cost. It also benefits public transport by encouraging off-peak travel.
Cancel all and ask them to apply again. Check if they really need it ! I’m sure most of them don’t need it and they re stealing from tax payers.
My dad’s a pensioner with a free bus pass, and to be fair he uses it a lot to go into the city centre and do his shopping.
If he wants to go anywhere else, he uses his Porsche 718.
Good, if children don’t get free bus pases I don’t see why pensioners should. Older generations have been voting for their exclusive benefit for too long and they brought the nation to its knees.
I’m not really in favour of scrapping bus passes all together but there should be some restrictions put on them to prevent frivolous use.
That’s not a very green policy. Pensioners I know get the bus because it’s free. Who wouldn’t? If they didn’t, they’d get in their cars.
Jfc. Just tax the fuck out of the rich, tax the russian oligarchs who own mansions in London, tax the companies who have bought hundreds of flats who have pushed the cost of homes up, tax the fuck out millionaires
People praising this are insane. Pensioners definitely do not get as much as people are acting like they do. Small benefits like this aren’t taking from anyone, they should extend the age bracket so more people have access to passes similar to these. We should be encouraging more people to use our public transport anyways. People don’t care when it’s not them being effected but social care and benefits for pensioners are already crap so I hope you guys know what’s waiting for us when we get to that age 🤡
Ah the comments crab bucket mentality strikes again.
This really is a mean spirited and spiteful government, not every pensioner is a millionaire, also aren’t the over 60s pass a good thing as it means less cars which is what Labour wants?
This is a very bad idea and I’m surprised to see Labour coming out with it. Public transport needs people to use it to justify its existence and very often, especially in rural Britain where busses have been stripped to the bone, it’s 90% OAP ridership. Without their patronage the service would cease to exist for everyone, and the OAPs themselves would either be stranded or contributing to traffic.
Driving ability diminishes with age; it’s better for everyone if the OAPs are given alternative means.
I’d rather everyone receive a free bus pass for local busses, personally, and then we can justify a level of service that means everyone who can’t drive has a fantastic level of freedom.
26 comments
Honestly I hope they do this. Too many rich pensioners don’t need these sorts of benefits get them by default and don’t care. I’d rather they save some money and use the cash to help more people who may not be state pension age
Well, us old bastards are going to pay for staying alive to long. We’re being punished to warn the rest of you in our new less comfortable world. I expect to see at some point Euthanasia being discussed.
I’m sure Labour have looked at their expenses and seen the disproportionate amount that pensioners have been getting when compared to others but they need to tread carefully. Working families need to see some relief and more people struggling isn’t going to help overall.
I’m not disagreeing with this choice.
We should give bus passes to everyone, not just school-aged children and pensioners.
Where does the cost of an OAP bus pass fall? Does the DWP have to pay the local bus companies for them?
My parents have qualified for them for nearly 30 years now and I’m very confident in saying my Dad hasn’t taken a bus once in that time. Did it cost anyone anything if he did have one? If he had used one would it have cost anyone anything more than marginal impact on any overcrowding and a tiny amount of additional fuel by increasing the weight being moved by a half of one percent?
On the flip side for the last few years of his now (thankfully) terminated driving it would certainly have been better for everyone if he had been in a bus.
I don’t want old people driving – their reaction times are worse than younger people after a few drinks. Let them keep the bus pass.
Will they scrap it for the 71% of social housing that don’t do a days work and can’t speak a word of English nor even want to?
Well, mine is gifted to me by Czar Khan, and the London Boroughs. It allows me to travel after 9:30. We know it colloquially as the TWIRLY Card. As in “Oh, have you turned up too early as well?”
Considering how much of our society has been built around needing a vehicle to get around I think the least we can do is allow those who don’t have access to such a vehicle a way to do so.
Not sure about this one. Getting people out of their cars and into buses is good for the environment, traffic flow and future investment.
If you means test, the rich pensioners will inevitably have cars so they’ll just go back to those.
I’m waiting to see what comes from this budget in October before I make my mind up on Labours plans, BUT they havent been giving the greatest signals to people so far.
We are a more divided nation than ever before when it comes to wealth, and there are some really easy ways of getting the rich & wealthy to pay their fair share. Council tax reforms is the most obvious one I can think of, why should someone who can afford a £10M home in London pay less or the same than a semi detached up north ?
Labour need to go after the big fish!
I have two elderly relatives. Both in their 80s. One has the lowest state pension, no other income and gets by on a few hundred quid a month. The other is ridiculously wealthy, with income of over 4K a month through private pensions. They both received winter fuel allowance and free bus passes. It feels one is far more deserving than the other.
I don’t particularly want to encourage people to keep driving into old age. Bring in mandatory driving re tests at 65 and periodically after that; anyone who fails gets the free bus pass.
It should be means tested except pensions. Which will no doubt take the hit right before I retire.
We just need to make sure the line is drawn to avoid poverty. Controversial, but I think the winter fuel allowance is a little low and a slight lift would go a long long way
The mobility scheme needs trimming, not the bus passes.
This is a benefit I don’t think people should mind imo. I think there’s a strong argument that it should be for pensioners and not 60+ as some areas provide.
I think it’s a net benefit to get pensioners active and mobile and it’s societal good for a small cost. It also benefits public transport by encouraging off-peak travel.
Cancel all and ask them to apply again. Check if they really need it ! I’m sure most of them don’t need it and they re stealing from tax payers.
My dad’s a pensioner with a free bus pass, and to be fair he uses it a lot to go into the city centre and do his shopping.
If he wants to go anywhere else, he uses his Porsche 718.
Good, if children don’t get free bus pases I don’t see why pensioners should. Older generations have been voting for their exclusive benefit for too long and they brought the nation to its knees.
I’m not really in favour of scrapping bus passes all together but there should be some restrictions put on them to prevent frivolous use.
That’s not a very green policy. Pensioners I know get the bus because it’s free. Who wouldn’t? If they didn’t, they’d get in their cars.
Jfc. Just tax the fuck out of the rich, tax the russian oligarchs who own mansions in London, tax the companies who have bought hundreds of flats who have pushed the cost of homes up, tax the fuck out millionaires
People praising this are insane. Pensioners definitely do not get as much as people are acting like they do. Small benefits like this aren’t taking from anyone, they should extend the age bracket so more people have access to passes similar to these. We should be encouraging more people to use our public transport anyways. People don’t care when it’s not them being effected but social care and benefits for pensioners are already crap so I hope you guys know what’s waiting for us when we get to that age 🤡
Ah the comments crab bucket mentality strikes again.
This really is a mean spirited and spiteful government, not every pensioner is a millionaire, also aren’t the over 60s pass a good thing as it means less cars which is what Labour wants?
This is a very bad idea and I’m surprised to see Labour coming out with it. Public transport needs people to use it to justify its existence and very often, especially in rural Britain where busses have been stripped to the bone, it’s 90% OAP ridership. Without their patronage the service would cease to exist for everyone, and the OAPs themselves would either be stranded or contributing to traffic.
Driving ability diminishes with age; it’s better for everyone if the OAPs are given alternative means.
I’d rather everyone receive a free bus pass for local busses, personally, and then we can justify a level of service that means everyone who can’t drive has a fantastic level of freedom.