UK govt. to axe pensioners’ benefits

Today on July 10, Tory MP Nick Boles, a close ally of the British Prime Minster David Cameron, will urge the UK government to get rid of universal benefits for pensioners at the next general election.

This is while Cameron had opposed such cuts during the 2010 election campaign, vowing that a Conservative government would retain benefit schemes, which are estimated to cost £5bn a year.

In a controversial speech to the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation, he will outline a series of cuts that will have to be made in order to eliminate the budget deficit by 2016-17.

While the British Chancellor George Osborne, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith seem to be prepared to bring in changes before 2015, Downing Street has blocked the move.

“We need to acknowledge now that we will not be able to continue the protection of these other benefits for better-off pensioners after 2015,” Boles will say.

“If we are to achieve stability in our public finances and make crucial investments in improving productivity and competitiveness, we must find further savings from the welfare budget.”

SSM/HE

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