An 84-year-old pensioner has told Prime Minister Andy Burnham to try living on £240 a week, warning that he has no idea of the struggles older people face. Sheila Correll, from Horncastle, Lincolnshire, says she speaks for millions of misunderstood retirees and wants the triple lock kept in place.
Pensioner's message to the Prime Minister
The triple lock mechanism means the state pension rises every April by at least 2.5%, or in line with the highest of prices or earnings. Labour has refused to commit to keeping it beyond the next election, raising fears among pensioners that they could be targeted again.
Widowed Sheila, a former legal secretary with no family to rely on, told how she finds it increasingly hard to get by on the basic state pension. With the cost of living crisis mounting and winter approaching, she said she is full of dread.
'No one can live on this'
She said: "My message to the Prime Minister would be - try and live on what we have to and see how far you would get - they have no idea. I rely on the state pension completely but no one can live on this. I have nothing left at the end of the week. For goodness sake, keep the triple lock."
Labour is thought to be considering scrapping the triple lock and reverting to an earnings link, which could save billions of pounds a year in years to come and be used to fund a national care service. Mr Burnham is under increasing pressure to scrap the mechanism, once thought politically bulletproof, to pay for social care reform. Removing it could save up to £22bn by 2030, estimates suggest.
'This is not living, it is existing'
After outgoings, Sheila does not have enough spare money to treat herself to a takeaway coffee and says her financial situation has left her "embarrassed". She added: "People seem to think all pensioners are stuffed full of money and they are not. It is one of the great myths of our time. The reality is it has become a nightmare to survive. The cost of electricity is shocking and I cannot afford to heat the house so I cut down as much as possible. Everyone I speak to is in the same boat. I have gas central heating, but I didn't run it last year. To keep warm I put extra jumpers on and think twice about boiling the kettle for a cup of tea. This is not living, it is existing. These politicians have absolutely no clue. I am dreading winter."
