Letter: Pension rights and wrongs

Owen Evans
Monday 09 December 1996 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sir: The National Insurance system is not a relic of the sentimental left ("Why I should give back my widow's pension", 4 December). It is a critically important part of the new democracy set up after the Second World War, and founded on the work and thoughts of politicians of the right, left and centre in a working group appointed by Winston S Churchill (Conservative).

When a voter is forced by law to pay a compulsory NI premium in proportion to his/her earnings, social and financial justice requires that their state pension return be also related to earnings. Not to do so amounts to legalised fraud. A private insurance body would find its directors liable to prison for theft.

If Margaret Thatcher, Harriet Harman and Polly Toynbee want state pensions to continue to be divorced from earnings, they must require that compulsory state premiums be a fixed amount indexed to prices. We voters are in revolt, especially those of us who started work in 1948 and have become desperate after nearly two decades of financial abuse.

OWEN EVANS

Bromyard, Herefordshire

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in