Green Party

The Green Party has launched its Pledge for Older People in the run-up to the General Election, and in Norwich the actress and former Anglia TV presenter Helen McDermott helped them do it.

Helen took part in a coffee morning at the Green Shop in Dove Street where local pensioners gathered to hear the Greens’ General Election candidate for Norwich South, Adrian Ramsay describe the cornerstones of the Green Party’s proposals: a non-means-tested basic pension of £170 a week and a big home insulation programme to make sure pensioners spend less to keep warm.

Helen McDermott said:

“With our ageing population, this kind of policy is going to be increasingly important. I’m impressed that it’s the Greens who take the trouble to come round and sell the message and really listen to people’s concerns.

“I’ve been a supporter for some time, but secretly, because you’re not allowed to say so when you’re on the television.”

Adrian Ramsay said:

“The Green Party's costed manifesto for the General Election includes a basic state pension of £170 per week. This is needed to ensure that all pensioners can make ends meet, that no-one falls through the poverty trap and that everyone can heat their home and feed themselves. Maintaining services that older people rely on is also a crucial part of our pledge. That includes protecting day care centres and local Post Offices and medical centres from closure.

"It's wrong that any pensioner should be struggling to make ends meet while bankers go on earning obscene bonuses for risky behaviour. I will fight for a fair deal for pensioners if elected as MP at the General Election."

The figure of £170 per week is calculated as the minimum required to keep the basic state pension above the official poverty line, according to the National Pensioners' Convention, in their Pensioners' Manifesto, which calls for a range of measures to improve conditions for older people (2).

In addition to raising pensioners above the poverty line, the Greens are pledging to end the default retirement age, so that people have the freedom to go on working and contributing to society if they wish to, free from discrimination on the basis of age.

The Green Party is committed to making Britain a better place to age in:

The Green Party would end the over-complex pension credit system and ensure a decent basic pension for everyone of £170 a week which would be linked to national earnings. We would replace the current system with a simple standard rate pension of £170 p/w, ensuring no older person falls below the poverty line, and get rid of complex means testing. By linking pensions to real national earnings we would ensure that pensions are kept up to date and do not fall behind the rates of inflation or economic growth.

The Green Party would help fight fuel poverty with free insulation. For many older people rising fuel costs for heating are a real problem, the Green Party would help combat these costs with free insulation for everyone.

The Green Party would ensure free personal and nursing care for all older people. So many older people are burdened with huge fees to care for themselves or their loved ones. We believe this is unfair so the Green Party would ensure that the NHS and nursing care are fully equipped to deal with our ageing population.

The Green Party would ensure that older people who want or need to work can do so. Greens support retirement at 65, but feel that people ought to have the freedom to go on working and contributing to society if they wish to, free from discrimination on the basis of their age. We would end the default retirement age and ensure that employment and skills support to allow older workers to cope with the recession was in place.

The Green Party would make Britain a good place to age in. The Green Party would introduce measures to make every day life easier for older people at home, and fight for their rights at an international level, pursuing a bill of rights for older people. We would save our much needed local post offices, and work to make the transport system more accessible and easier to use.

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