The elderly deserve an old age without worry

From Colin Clarke.

TO continue to tinker with our financial ‘black hole’ in the manner which our illustrious political leaders are doing is as pertinent to solving the problem as a spot of deck chair arranging on the Titanic.

As I see it, the elephant in the room is our total inability to control our resident population. Our resources in education, healthcare and housing are finite, and we must address the problem with the utmost urgency.

Bearing this in mind, I would propose an urgent overhaul of our income support system, starting with child benefit. Although it is means tested, those receiving it are entitled to claim £63 for each and every child. I would propose that this figure is maintained for the first child but drastically reduced for any further offspring and, after the third child, no allowance would be paid at all.

The money saved would be ring-fenced to improve both the pensions and health care provision for our elderly population. They have done their bit, they deserve an old age without having to continually worry about keeping warm and eating properly. The healthier our elderly population is, the less of a drain it will be on our overstretched health system.

I would also amalgamate the income tax and social security payments departments, if not physically, at least on paper, (or possibly computer chip) I cannot believe that there is not scope for a vast saving in man hours by doing this.

These man hours could be put to far better use in making sure that any future immigration is both necessary to our economic prosperity, and properly licensed and controlled.

No doubt, various politicians and senior civil servants will decry these proposed measures as naive and over simplistic, but overpopulation is a millstone we can no longer afford to carry.