OAPs face return to rationing » Housing » 24dash.com

Many UK pensioners are facing a return to rationing as they struggle to make ends meet, the Royal British Legion warned today.

The group said with rising taxes, fuel and food costs, a third of the ex-service community aged over 65 did not have an adequate income to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Backed by charity Age Concern, it is launching a campaign calling on the Government to make changes to bring UK pensioners out of poverty.

These include improvements to council tax benefits and a doubling of the personal expense allowance for care home residents.

It also wants war pensioners to be exempt from means testing for disabled facility grants, which provide people with money to adapt their home.

The group said the country owed the wartime generation a great debt, but many of these people had effectively returned to those austere days, living on extremely low fixed incomes.

It added that a lot of pensioners were unaware of the financial support available to them or how to access it.

Chris Simpkins, director general of the Royal British Legion, said: "We all thought rationing was history. But we were wrong.

"Even the Chancellor says we're facing the worst economic climate in 60 years and this has a crushing impact on older people.

"The Government must give them the help they deserve - making it easier for them to access their entitlements and giving them a level of income to ensure their basic needs are met."

John Walker, 78, who is supporting the campaign, said he was dreading winter as he could only afford to have his heating on for an hour a day.

He said: "At the age of 78 - after 19 years of Service to this country - why should I have to scrimp and save?

"I should be able to have steak every now and then. I should be able to turn on my central heating for warmth.

"I find it degrading but I am in no position to be proud. I just want some dignity in my life."

Age Concern Director General Gordon Lishman said the spiraling cost of living was hitting older people on low fixed incomes particularly hard.

"The British Legion is right to highlight that without Government intervention many older people will be forced to ration their food, clothes and heating.

"We estimate that one in three older people will be in fuel poverty this winter - many of them will be bitterly disappointed by the Government's refusal to offer them any additional short term help," he said.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "Pensioners are facing challenges with rising food and fuel costs. That's why we're spending £575 million increasing winter fuel payments this winter, so that households with someone over 60 will receive an extra £50 and over-80s households an extra £100.

"From next month we're making it much simpler for older people to claim all the benefits they're entitled to over the phone, without having to sign or return any forms."