I thought this would interest the over 50 voters who use this website. The current Parliament was first summoned on Wednesday 11 May 2005, so will cease to exist at midnight on Monday 10 May 2010. A general election to elect the new Parliament must be held by no later than Thursday 3 June 2010.
The Saga Generation Manifesto contains six demands for a fairer society for the over 50s.
Never in the history of elections has the grey vote been so powerful and never before has the number of problems affecting older people been so great. This is what emboldened Saga to come up with the its just published Manifesto in good time for the election.
We want to ensure that all the political parties have a good understanding of the issues that concern our generation and to do our part in getting the sometimes muted voices of older people heard. To get at the issues that concern you, we used our monthly Populus survey which currently has 15,000 respondents (you can join the panel here). We also used the columns of the magazine (see the next issue for the views of a panel of experts) and our knowledge of our millions of customers.
The Manifesto is aimed at promoting independence, fairness and a fair crack of the whip for both this generation and the large numbers who will join the Saga generation during the next decade. For instance, if it is not going to collapse under the strain of an ageing population and if it is to be both equitable and supportive of poorer pensioners, the pensions system needs a much greater overhaul than that recommended by Sir Ian Turner.
The social care system needs revamping to render it fit for purpose - something that the current government recognised with its Green Paper and expensive consultations before it trod on its own feet with its well-meaning but ill-conceived Personal Care at Home Bill. Perhaps most importantly of all for people now in their fifties, that blunt instrument, the default retirement age needs to take up residence on the scrapheap. Within the Manifesto you'll find many other suggestions covering some six areas - after all the over 50s covers a vast number of people at dramatically different stages of their lives.
No government can be all things to all people and we don't expect this country to be run entirely for the benefit of older people. But it is important that the issues we have covered should get onto the agenda of the three political parties who are mostly, you cannot fail to notice, peopled by fresh-faced young politicians. They need to listen to us and will ignore our concerns at their peril.
Find the manifesto here...
http://www.saga.co.uk/money/news/saga-manifesto.pdfI hope you find this of interest.
Mike Hill
Stirchley
