Pensioners (Hansard, 18 April 1988)

§ Mr. Speaker
There are six petitions and I shall call Mr. Roland Boyes first.

§ Mr. Roland Boyes (Houghton and Washington)
I beg to ask leave to present a petition. It shows that pensioners in the Tyne, Wear, Durham and District Pensioners Associaton will suffer great hardship because of the poll tax, the increases in the price of electricity and the meagre winter heating allowance.
It is signed in the name of Mr. Huggins of 49 Wenlock, Biddick, Washington and many others.
The poll tax is a uniquely selfish piece of legislation. Pensioners are just one of the already disadvantaged groups that will be hit hard by its effects. We have the obscene situation in which a third of single pensioners will be worse off by up to £5 a week, a million pensioner couples will be paying more than they do now and those who choose to care for elderly relatives will have to consider whether they will be able to afford to keep the old person in the family home. Inflicting further hardship on the old and forcing families to put elderly relatives into local authority homes is a wicked, vicious and immoral act on the part of the party that is supposed to uphold family values.
I received a letter this morning from an elderly woman in my constituency—

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Paul Dean)
Order. I remind the hon. Gentleman he must not make a speech when presenting a petition. He should summarise the letter briefly.

§ Mr. Boyes
The letter was from an elderly woman who has already been hard-hit by the social security changes. That letter says it all. It says: With all that the Government is doing to old people, what on earth is there for us to live for? That is the question.

§ Mr. Bob Clay (Sunderland, North)
I beg to ask leave to present a petition with over 10,000 signatures collected by the Tyne, Wear, Durham and District Pensioners Association, members of the Labour party in Sunderland and by the Sunderland campaign against the poll tax. The petition reads: To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. The Honourable Petition of members of the Tyne, Wear, Durham and District Pensioners Association and other pensioners sheweth:— That pensioners will suffer great hardship because of the introduction of the poll tax, increases in the price of electricity and the meagre winter heating allowance. Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House will urge the Government to take such actions as are necessary to prevent pensioners suffering because of these circumstances. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.
As I have said, over 10,000 people have signed the petition. There are many thousands of signatures from the Tyne and Wear area being presented tonight and there are many thousands of people still signing the petition. The 651 signatures still being taken in the Sunderland area, other parts of Tyne and Wear and, no doubt, throughout the rest of the United Kingdom, demonstrate that the people of this country are overwhelmingly opposed to the wicked and evil piece of legislation that will make so many people worse off and so many wealthy people even more wealthy.
The people who are presenting the petition believe that the poll tax is a piece of social inequality. It is the most appalling piece of legislation going through the House at present and the overwhelming majority of people, as sthe petitions prove, wish that it could be stopped.

§ Mr. Don Dixon (Jarrow)
Like my hon. Friends the Members for Houghton and Washington (Mr. Boyes) and for Sunderland, North (Mr. Clay) I beg to ask leave to present a petition. The petition reads: To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom, of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled, the humble petition of Members of the Tyne, Wear, Durham and District Pensioners Association and other pensioners.
It is in the name of James Sim, the secretary, 38 Ellen Court, and many others in the Jarrow constituency.
The petition states: That pensioners will suffer great hardship because of the introduction of the poll tax, the increases in the price of electricity and the meagre winter heating allowance.
Tonight we have heard many speeches from both sides of the House about the hardship that the poll tax will inflict on the poorest in our community. This petition is not from those who talk about the hardship but from those upon whom it is imposed.

§ Mr. Chris Mullin (Sunderland, South)
I beg leave to introduce a petition signed by several hundreds of pensioners in my constituency and elsewhere in Tyne and Wear.
Like the other petitioners that have been presented, the signatures were collected by the Tyne and Wear, Durham and District Pensioners Association in protest against the proposed poll tax, the rise in electricity prices and the meagre winter heating allowances.
652 The petitioners pray that the House will take such actions as are necessary to prevent pensioners from suffering as a result of those and other measures.

§ Ms. Joyce Quin (Gateshead, East)
I wish to present a petition on behalf of 300 pensioners who are resident in my constituency and the surrounding area of Tyne and Wear.
The petition urges the Government to take measures to prevent pensioners suffering hardship because of the poll tax, the increases in the price of electricity and the meagre winter heating allowances.
I know from my contact with the signatories to the petition that they are concerned about the range of Government policies affecting pensioners, such as the cuts in housing benefit, the refusal to maintain the link between pensions, prices and earnings, the refusal to introduce measures such as concessionary television licences and the squeeze on local authorities, which mean that the concessionary provisions for travel that are offered to pensioners are being reduced or are under pressure in many areas.
Under the Government, pensioners look forward not to a long and happy retirement but with apprehension to trying to make ends meet in difficult circumstances. What a reward for a lifetime of work and contribution to society.
The petition reads: Wherefore your petitioners pray that your Honourable House will urge the Government to take such actions as are necessary to prevent pensioners suffering because of these circumstances.

§ Mr. David Clelland (Tyne Bridge)
I wish to submit a petition from pensioners who are living in and around my constituency in Tyne Bridge. It has been organised and submitted by the Tyne and Wear. Durham and District Pensioners Association and other pensioners.
The petition sheweth, That pensioners will suffer great hardship because of the introduction of the poll tax, increases in the price of electricity and the meagre winter heating allowance.
The petition has been signed by 343 pensioners, who will feel badly let down by a small majority in the House.