Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s candidate for Denton and Reddish, has welcomed Labour’s new ‘Pensioners Pledge Card’ which sets out seven policies to support pensioners.
The pledge card comes days after the Conservatives did not address the biggest issue affecting older people – the social care crisis – in their manifesto.
Labour’s ‘Pensioners Pledge Card’ includes plans to:
- Introduce free personal care and invest £10.8 billion in social care provision
- Keep the free bus pass for older people
- Restore 3,000 bus routes that have been cut under the Conservatives and give local councils the powers to regulate services again
- Stop the Tories taking free TV licences from the up to 4030 households with someone over-75 in Denton and Reddish (73% of all households in the constituency)
- Pay-outs of up to £31,000 for the 4,800 women in Denton and Reddish who lost out unfairly when the Conservatives changed the state pension age without fair notice
- Invest in Warm Homes for All with insulation for every home – and in the process create around 3,768 unionised construction jobs and supply chain jobs for the next generation in Tameside and Stockport
- End the injustice of the state skimming 50% off the mineworkers’ pensions schemes
The Conservatives have cut £8 billion from social care since 2010 – and have not allocated one penny extra to social care in their manifesto. According to Age UK, 1.5 million older people are not getting the care they need.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“Older age should be a happy and comfortable time for people, but unfortunately many older people have been let down by the Tory Government. The number of pensioners living in poverty has increased whilst many of the services they rely on have been cut.
“We live in one of the richest countries in the world and we can do so much better than this.
“I am delighted that the next Labour Government will provide pensioners with the support that they need to live the happy and comfortable lives that they deserve.”