I posted this Tweet this afternoon:
Geronticide is the killing or euthanasia of the elderly. Since it is reasonably anticipatable that the number of elderly people dying from hypothermia will increase this winter as a result of this decision by the government that Labour MPs alone in the House of Commons have supported, I think the accusation I have made is fair.
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I opined the other day, we might see more of this from within Labour.
The answer is more honest debate within the party and between the parties about the issue and the wider context. But if the debate is diverted into issues of loyalty and who sides with whom, the moment will be lost.
Your previous neighbour, Cromwell said to his opponents ‘think you in the bowels of Christ, you mat be wrong.’
We all have to be aware of own limitations.
I nodded to his house this afternoon
Exceptionally fair and accurate actually. This Scots pensioner with many pensioner friends and neighbours will absolutely remember the duplicitousness contained in both the federal labour choices and the Scottish Labour lackey MPs falling into line with the sociopathic neoliberal austerity and fear agenda inflicting life damaging austerity on us all.
Eventually the screw will democratically turn toward a better way much to the future anguish of the control freaks responsible for this atrocity.
I suppose they (Labour) might get lucky if we have an unusually mild winter.
Unusually is a doing a lot of work there
…an unusually mild winter.
This afternoon we had the first sleet/hailstone showers of the winter.
It may be more likely that the winter will be more severe than usual.
If the temperatures are anything like last winter in Edinburgh a lot of pensioners will suffer.
The least we can hope for is that Labour will suffer too. They’ll be alive though.
It’s cold this morning
I am hoping we don’t have a bad winter
The general trend of the weather due to global heating is winters that are wetter and milder, (which has its own set of unfortunate consequences, e.g greater propensity to flooding).
But as one of the consequences of the climate emergency is weather that is less predictable and more extreme it is entirely possible that we may get an unexpectedly severe winter. Here is SE England not far from London it has got a lot colder quite suddenly.
If the winter is severe labour will be held responsible for the increased death rates amongst the elderly. I see one contributor to this blog already bitterly regretting voting for them. John Harris in the guardian today makes the point that labour are really taking a huge risk here; Reeves obsession with ‘balancing the books’ will be disastrous.
Agreed
And John Harris is right
I submitted a few paragraphs to the Consultation today suggesting that the Government had listened to the lobbyist to the Conservative Party Conference just after they won the election in 2015. That lobbyist told the Tories that they should go for the pensioners as soon as possible because in five years time they would be dead or not remember anyway. I also pointed out that there were plenty of alternatives in the Taxing Wealth report and provided a link. So the assertion that there was ‘no choice’ but to remove the winter fuel allowance was not correct!
Thanks
Life expectancy in the Uk at 65 is about 20 years (shamefully already going down slightly in recent years). At 75 is is about 14 years and at 85 it is about 7 years.
Which is to say that a UK pensioner needs to be very aged to be more likely than not to be dead before the next general election. These days many will live into their 90s (a quarter of men aged 65 will see 92 and a quarter of women will reach 94) but may have conditions which mean they may not be voting by then (or at least not voting Labour).
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/articles/lifeexpectancycalculator/2019-06-07
The simple point is that the Labour Party has choices. It has chosen to push many pensioners into fuel poverty (particularly those just above the limits for pension credit) to save a small amount of money which will make very little difference to the overall public finances.
Neat analysis
I can only applaud the sentiment.
I heard some numpty Labour spokes-robot on C4 news talking about how protected pensioners had been recently from inflation. So now it’s THEIR turn. That’s all it is. Wow? What deep thinking and conscientious policy makers we have eh?
But I mean look…………it’s not just about the money, nor just about the energy market.
The state of our housing is also of concern – it is often draughty, out of date, expensive to run – this focus on clawing back money in the face of the need for real investment makes no sense at all. And the elderly themselves need to be warm by virtue of…well… that they are old. And what impact will this have on the NHS this winter?
It’s not just about the money Rachel Reeves.
But Oh! It obviously is!! Because Rachel says so.
I don’t know what else to say.
Kakistocracy anyone? Well, tough luck – we’ve got one.
We seem to have an Addams Family tribute act. Morticia is a brilliant fit, and bizarrely-suited Gomez was a lawyer who always lost.
Interestingly in the East Anglian Daily Times I saw a report that the 6 Labour MPs in Suffolk had been advised not to vote for the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance, I think by the council. !
There was some government person defending the policy on radio 4 this morning. I surprised myself by how immediately I just switched off my attention – exactly as one did with previous conservative government spokespeople. But how quickly the Labour government has got itself into the position that it took several years of Conservative incompetence, callousness and duplicity to reach.
I more or less stopped listening to the news in the morning (R4 Today program) when the Brexit disaster was in the offing (i.e. before the referendum) and in its aftermath, as I couldn’t stomach heating the lies, stupidly and moronic ideological fantasies of the various Brexiters morons that got interviewed.
After we left the EU I still wasn’t going to listen to anyone from the wretched Johnson, Truss and Sunak governments either. R3 for my sanity TBH.
A brief period of about a week after the election I listened to the news, but now, just like you, I’m back to not bothering. I no more want to listen to some twerp from labour trying to justify their rubbish than I ever wanted to listen to the loathsome Tories.
I do not listen to Today, but my wife usually does – and checks breakfast TV, telling me what hiughlights (if any) I need to look at. She is a fairly integral part of this team.
I’m talking to a village in Yorkshire, regarding community energy. There seems to be an iron will to build it and give the finger to Reeves/LINO and similar death cults. They will not be the only ones (villages and communities that have had enough of over-priced energy and imbecilic/corrupt politicos). Pity the poor devils in town and cities – places where it is very difficult to take a DIY approach to energy.
Hi Mike,
I enjoy your informed comments on this blog. You clearly know a great deal about community energy projects which is why I’m contacting you.
I am on the management committee of the Independence Forum Scotland (IFS) – https://independenceforum.scot. Our aim is to bring the independence movement together. To that aim, we are organising a National Convention in Edinburgh on November 30th and one of the main topics is energy. I told Ian Grant, the IFS convener, about you and he would very much like to speak with you. Would you be willing to give me your email so I can pass it on to him?
Many thanks,
Leah
It has taken me 45 years of voting Labour to see my first Labour MP representing a constituency that I live in. From ecstasy to despair in just a few short weeks. I thought that I was voting to get a LABOUR Government….how wrong I was. Never again, I am ashamed that I voted for this.
I’m just reminded increasingly of Animal Farm. I can’t help seeing Starmer as Napoleon. Pensioners will find, as the animals did, that their misery is their own fault for not filling in the 250 question form for pension credit (taking account of the 9 week delay in processing, obviously).
About this long claim form to be filled in by pensioners: please stop repeating Ros Altman’s frightener.
1. Claims can be made by telephone on
0800 99 1234
A friend can make the phone call as long as the claimant is present. Most calls last about 20 minutes on a free number.
2. If a pensioner has only their pension income, the form is about 50 questions long. More sources of income mean more listing of the income. Nobody complains about the same questions being asked for a Universal Credit claim – but that is also means-tested, and also reduced in length by the paucity of capital and income.
Why am I so insistent on these two facts? Because the idea of
a) completing a claim form ;
b) that is over 250 questions;
is a not-so-subtle message, albeit unintentional, to any pensioner who has not claimed yet, that it’s easier to not claim.
When we’ve got the claims submitted for all the pensioners we can reach (and backdating requested from 16 September, the start of the qualifying week) then let’s have the discussion about pensions, pension credit, means-testing… but for heavens’ sake, please encourage claims, not say how nasty it all is. Even though it is.
Please.
Thanks
Well said.
Emailed my MP to express my “disappointment”.
Don’t epect a reply.
That is the state of our democracy. They don’t give a damn about their constituents only their careers.
Disgracefull.
I ask myself why do all these actions make me (us?) so angry, whether it be the taking away of the winter fuel payment or the latest plan to ‘stop the boats’ or the refusal to lift the 2 child benefit cap. My conclusion is that we as human beings have the capacity to be kind, compassionate and show generosity, and all of Labour’s policies fly in the face of any sense or feelings of these.
Much to agree with
[…] made a point on Twitter and on this blog yesterday afternoon that those who voted for this motion will have it forever on their […]
Winter fuel is nothing to do with filling a black hole there are many other areas they can save £1.5bn.
It is all about penalising pensioners that,in the main,are Tory voters.
In the same way that a hike in IHT will effect the same group. There are far less voters outside of the uk south east that will be affected. Again there are exception, but Starmer knows that relatively few of his voters will have an estate value of anywhere near the threshold. Similar logic can be applied to rise in CGT, both of which are odds on to be targeted in the Budget.
Not sure if RR thinks we are all stupid but most can see through this flimsy attempt to punish Tory voters.
Any change of Government would deliver policies that not all would be in support of, but a common theme would be in the national interest, which does not include giving hikes in wages to public sector workers.
Starmer seems more intent on retribution as each week passes.
[…] Labour MPs voted for geronticide Richard Murphy […]
Having worked in the Life Assurance world since 1980, I recall a meeting with the Chief Actuary at the now infamous Equitable Life, when life expectancy was discussed.
One of the most significant increases in life span occurred in the mid 1960s onwards and this was attributed to the installation of central heating in homes, helping remove damp, cold and mouldy conditions and the associated lung infections. Clean Air Acts and the reduction in smoking also played a part.
If the elderly can no longer afford to heat their homes to a comfortable level then it seems very probable that life expectancy will be adversely affected.
We are going backwards
“We are going backwards” more so in our part of the UK now that Age Concern Hereford and Worcestershire is about to close due to lack of funding.
That’s grim
“We are going backwards” correction, its Age UK Hereford and Worcestershire that is due to close.
Really?
Bit of a mixup Richard
Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire is closing
but Age UK Worcester, Malvern Hills and Hereford localities are not closing
Life expectancy has started to decrease already.
Lancashire Telegraph :
Starts
For a baby boy born in Blackburn with Darwen in 2020 to 2022, the average life expectancy is 75.15 years.
This statistic is beaten only by Kingston upon Hull (75.4), Manchester (74.8) and Blackpool (73.41), which has the lowest life expectancy in the country.
This figure has decreased slightly compared to 2019 to 2021’s figures (75.46).
This is the lowest the life expectancy has been since figures for 2007 to 2009, when the average life expectancy was 74.82, despite advances in medicine and science.
Females born in 2020 to 2022 in Blackburn with Darwen have a higher life expectancy than men, of 80.04, but this too is a slight decrease on 2019 to 2021 figures (80.26).
Blackburn with Darwen females have the 13th lowest life expectancy in Britain.
Blaenau Gwent, just south of the Brecon Beacons, has the lowest life expectancy for women, at 78.88, followed by Blackpool at 78.98, meaning the seaside Lancashire town has the lowest overall life expectancy of any place in Britain.
Ends
Depressing