A new online petition is “demanding” that the UK Government “stops means-testing pensioners” arguing that it is a “degrading and humiliating practice”. Petition creator Michael Thompson also calls for an increase to all State Pension payments, but does not clarify by how much. The ‘stop means testing pensioners and increase the State Pension’ petition has been posted on the UK Government’s petitions-parliament website.
It states: “We demand the government stop means-testing pensioners, that we think is a degrading and humiliating practice. We also think the State Pension should be increased.” Mr Thompson goes on to say how the media is portraying pensioners as a ‘burden’ on the NHS and the welfare system and argues that older people are “entitled to a decent pension and a comfortable lifestyle as many will have already paid into the system for longer than the rest of the population by now”.
He continues: “We believe any Government should have a responsibility toward our nation's elderly people. In the Victorian era, retirement was often only an option for those who had accrued wealth. Are we regressing back to those Dickensian times? “We believe means-testing is an abhorrent practice that is demeaning and intrusive.
” At 10,000 signatures the petition is entitled to a written response from the UK Government, at 100,000 it will be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament. You can view the full petition on the petitions-p.
