A full-time carer has hit out at the Government for “moving the goalposts” of the retirement age in the Budget, forcing her to “keep working”.
Today, the Chancellor revealed that the state pension will rise by 4.8 per cent over the 2026/2027 financial year, increasing by around £570 a year.
But carers and pensioners in Yorkshire have lambasted Ms Reeves’ balancing of the books, lamenting the consistently moving goalposts.
A full-time carer from Yorkshire told GB News: “They just keep moving the goalposts, don’t they? So I’m 64 now.
“I should have retired four years ago. That’s what my plan was. You know, I started work when I was 16. And now, it’s getting further and further away.
“So it’s going to be 67 now, I guess it’s like, oh my word. So even though I’m his full-time carer I’ve still got to keep on working.-
Another took aim at the £26billion tax raid conducted by Ms Reeves, telling Anna: “Problem is, everything else is going up as well as tax. Food prices will go up.
“Petrol prices, well, they’re going to stay frozen I think, but if we’re taxed on our pension, you’ve got less available income.
‘Even though I’m a full-time carer, I’ve still got to keep on working,’ a local told the People’s Channel
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GB NEWS
“So it’s tough for the people who are there. You know, if you’ve got a big private pension, you’re okay. If you don’t, it’s going to be a struggle.”
Speaking to Martin Daubney, who said that pensioners are “feeling the pinch”, GB News’ Yorkshire and Humberside reporter Anna Riley concurred.
She added that Scarborough is the UK’s retirement capital, with a whopping 27 per cent of people living here are over the age of 65.
Delivering her assessment of the fiscal statement, she said that it was “positive in some ways for pensioners”, with the retirees receiving a 4.8 per cent rise in April in line with average wages.
Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget earlier this afternoon
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GB NEWS“That means that the new flat rate state pension for those who reach state pension age after April 2016 that will increase to £241 a week, or £12,547 a year,” she explained.
“That’s a rise of £574 and it will affect around 4.1million pensioners.
“For those on the old basic state pension, for those who reached state pension age before April 2016, it will go up to nearly £185 a week, or that’s £9,614 a year, a rise of £439.
“And that will affect 8.8million pensioners and, in general, you need to have paid into the system for 35 years of qualifying contributions to get that full state pension.”
She added that the decision bring the state pension closer to being subject to income tax, with frozen tax thresholds being a source of a multitude of chatter.
“And that could mean that, by the end of the decade, over 10million pensioners could actually be paying tax on their pensions.”
Beyond pensioners, just further east in Easington, incensed Britons called for the Chancellor to resign following the unveiling of her fiscal policy.
Asked by GB News host Tom Harwood how they feel about the Budget, one man said: “Well, this is Labour’s attempt to address the cost of living crisis, and it’s failed from the outset.
“It’s failed to address the major issues in the economy, and it’s tinkered around the edges with the two-child cap and things like that. But at the end of the day, we need some bigger policies rather than just little tinkering.”