Richard Cox, 72, was one of millions of pensioners who lost out on the winter fuel allowance when the government announced changes to the payments in July. But he and his wife can afford to miss out. “We are fortunate enough to be financially stable, and therefore the reduction in the allowance is OK with us,” he said.
Cox has a state and private pension from the UK and from his time working abroad in France, as well as a “very small pension” from Ireland. He and his wife own their home in Derby. He does not get the full state pension due to his time living abroad, but receives £786.
04 a month. This will go up by 4.1% under the “triple lock”.
He is happy the government has committed to investing in public services. “We have a problem in this country with declining services,” he said. “Schools crumbling, prisons desperately need investment.
So there needs to be major investment in infrastructure. Investing in infrastructure in the NHS, that’s only a good thing. Going digital with the health service too.
” Issy Horn, 28, says she has to be extra cautious when the end of the month rolls around. “There’s this saying that you’ll walk five seconds down the street in London and you’ve already spent £40,” she said. And the cut to duty on draught beer of 1.
7% – about 1p a pint – won’t help much. “I’m not sure 1p is going to cut it.” She added: “As long as the price of everything else stays pretty stable it will be fine, but I still think .