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SCP: Seniors slam Government insulation scam

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Friday, 19, Sep 2008 12:00

"Gordon Brown's pledge to provide free insulation to all pensioners has turned out to be a complete scam," says Grahame Leon-Smith, Party Leader of the Senior Citizens Party (www.seniorcitizensparty.org.uk)." Pensioners could not believe their ears when they heard Gordon Brown would provide £1 billion so that all lower income and all pensioner households would be eligible for free loft and cavity wall insulation and other measures. But after they had spent hours on the telephone (using premium numbers to give the Government even more money) a Whitehall spokesman confirmed that only the over-70s and some pensioners on benefits would be eligible. How cruel can you get ?

But the Senior Citizens Party has discovered a second and even worse part to the scam. Nearly half the 5 million people in fuel poverty live in older houses which do not have cavity walls and many have flat roofs and so they are excluded from any insulation grants whatsoever. This of course means that the poorest and most vulnerable people live in the most fuel inefficient properties and will not get any help at all. It is estimated that some 700 older people die from hypothermia every year, mainly because they just cannot afford to heat their homes to a reasonable temperature, and yet the Government proposes to spend £1 billion pounds on grants for home insulation but deny the most vulnerable people any help at all. "It is simply a re-run of the !0% tax band fiasco, let's help those who don't need help but deny help to those who do," said Grahame Leon-Smith. "This is why ever since 1997 the rich have got richer and the poor have got poorer. What a record for a Labour Government."

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Senior Citizens Party represents the largest demographic group in the UK, the 20.6 million people age 50 or over who make up 43% of the voting population.

For further information, a quote or an interview, please contact the Party Leader, Grahame Leon-Smith on: 01932 874303 (Direct Line) or Mobile: 07509 047363

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