Letters: There's no way I'll claim pension credit – I refuse to be insulted by benefit assessors

Labour have been blaming all their tough decisions, including making the winter fuel allowance means tested, on the previous government. One reader explains why her pension credit will go unclaimed.

Why I won’t claim pension credit

I may or may not be eligible for pension credit, but there is no way I will claim anything unless I am on the breadline. Not because it’s charity (I’ve paid all the taxes). My grandmother in the 1930s was a victim of the vicious and infamous means test. Separated from her husband after he’d spent all the money on other women, she had to bring up her four daughters alone. The youngest slept on two kitchen chairs lashed together. There was no bed for her.  

That youngest remembered all her life how a fat woman in a leopardskin coat told her beloved mother that she would have to sell furniture which was too good for poor people before she could have any public assistance. They had an armchair and a mirror, for which they were too low class. They didn’t sell them – the neighbours hid the furniture when the means test people were due. 

The family finally clawed themselves out of poverty, thanks to the hard work and aspiration of my mother and her sisters, but in no way helped by the state. Claim money from them? Are claimants treated any better now than my grandmother? They are not. I will not be insulted as my lovely grandmother was. She was worth a dozen of the leopardskin-coated assessors. Or of the industrial-scale jobsworths who think they know better than claimants just because they are poor. 

Rose King, Cromer 

Checks and balances

Why is this possible – that people like this get into power? Do we not do background checks on these people? Should they not be people who lead by example? That want to do better for the people of the country? 

We really need rules and structure for giving people jobs in government positions. This has been overlooked for far too long! We need change in the world, not recreating the same problems over and over again! 

@Lee_m.a.c, Instagram 

• How to get pension credit and ensure you get the winter fuel payment in 2024
• Starmer defends ‘unpopular’ winter fuel payment cut amid pressure from unions and Labour rebels

Our first-world problem

There shouldn’t be any homelessness in this country. We have a history of being one of the leading countries in wealth creation and capitalism. A first-world country with the sixth largest economy globally out of 195 countries. If we can’t eradicate homelessness, what good is such an economic/political system? 

John Smith, Facebook 

Teachable moment

In John Bird’s excellent article on “the tinderbox of poverty” he mentions “the great holes in education”. As a long-time supporter of Big Issue and as a retired teacher, I was therefore dismayed that there was no mention of teachers’ salaries in the list of key workers whose earnings are well below the £75,000 needed to afford to live in London. 

Rosemary Hill, Dorset 

Pension poverty

The last two Bird’s Words I have seen in your informative magazine have been really deep and thought-provoking. Thank you. By contrast, the leaderships of the two main political parties seem to be characterised by rather lazy, simplistic thinking. 

The Tory government introduced winter fuel payments for all pensioners, including those with large houses and several cars while schools and hospitals are strapped for cash, and now Labour scrap the winter fuel payments for all people on a pension, including thousands who really need them.  

Most people have tax codes: surely it is possible for caring politicians to devise systems that target help without individuals having to put in complicated claims? Do Labour and Tory politicians live in the real world?  And when are we going to do something thoughtful about poorly regulated, cheapskate employers on the fringes of legality who are one of the main reasons desperate people try to travel here on flimsy boats? 

Tony Rowe, Suffolk 

Taking over the asylum

How fucked up is the asylum system to have wasted 16 years of that person’s life [waiting for a decision]. 

@Daaan_da_da_dan, Instagram 

Objectively there is no reason this should take longer than six months – most of the evidence comes with the person, you aren’t going to get an admission from Syria that they’ve tortured someone. An efficient system should render an opinion in a month and an appeal within six. 

@LawAndPolitics3, X 

How can previous home secretaries and immigration ministers sleep at night having allowed this to happen? 

With the best will in the world this will take many months to clear. Meanwhile people suffer. 

@BrianRBurt2, X 

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about pension credit, asylum decisions, or any of the topics raised? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.