An online petition argues scrapping the State Pension would enable free tuition for all students.
A new online petition is urging the UK Government to make radical changes to the State Pension. Petition creator David Matthews proposes three reforms to help free up UK Government spending which could be used to scrap tuition fees for all students.
The ‘review, reform and means-test the State Pension and scrap tuition fees’ petition has been posted on the Petitions Parliament website. It proposes the ending of the State Pension Triple Lock – which determines the annual uprating and reducing entitlements for pensioners on existing private defined benefit schemes with an income of £20,000 or more.
More controversially, Mr Matthews proposes ending the State Pension for those with an annual income of over £50,000. It’s worthwhile remembering that the State Pension is a contributory benefit which is funded by National Insurance (NI) Contributions made by people throughout their working life.
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How much State Pension someone receives is calculated by their NI contributions. These deductions are continuous throughout someone’s working life, and only stop when they reach State Pension age.
The petition states: “We urge the Government to use additional money from these reforms to fund scrapping tuition fees for students.
“Current State Pension benefits cost nearly £150 billion a year – we believe this is unsustainable. We believe those with the broadest shoulders should support an approach which keeps the Chancellor within her borrowing limits and protects priority departments, like the NHS & Defence.
“We believe young people need more help. We believe £50,000 in debt for students is too much.”
At 10,000 signatures of support the petition is entitled to a written response from the UK Government. At 100,000 the Petitions Committee would consider it for debate in Parliament – you can view it in full here.
Means-testing State Pension
In December, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed the Labour Government has no plans to means-test the State Pension.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Pat McFadden made the comments in response to a question from Labour backbencher Catherine Fookes during DWP questions in Parliament.
The Monmouthshire MP said: “At the Conservative party conference, the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury called for the State Pension to be means-tested. This has caused deep concern to pensioners in Monmouthshire who have worked hard all their lives and built up modest savings.
“Under the Conservative party’s plans, they would risk losing their state pension. Will the Secretary of State confirm that, under this Labour Government, the State Pension will remain available to all?”
Mr McFadden responded: “I am happy to say that what (Ms Fookes) says about means-testing is not the Government’s policy.”
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