Unequal wealth distribution: Investing in migrant vote at the expense to the old vote

Heat or Eat? British pensioners dying from hypothermia

Wed, 15/02/2012 - 17:00

By Jennifer Matthys and Bill Whitmoor – With the cold weather still biting hard, the news that the number of pensioners dying from hypothermia has almost doubled in five years is very hard to stomach.

The official figures emerged just days after temperatures across the country dropped as low as minus 10’C.

For the 2010/11 period, the figures show that 1,876 patients were treated in hospital for hypothermia in 2010/11. This is up from 950 in 2006/07.

Further to this, the number of sufferers who died within 30 days of admission shot up from 135 to 260. Three quarters of the victims were pensioners.

Soaring energy bills are pushing more and more pensioners into fuel poverty; forcing them to make the impossible and often deadly choice between heating and eating.

It is scandalous that such large number pensioners in modern Britain are suffering from hypothermia, especially since the news broke regarding Salford Council giving Asylum Seekers £210 per month towards their gas and electric over the winter period.

Our elderly pensioners, many of whom have fought for this country, receive just £200 for the entire winter.

A survey carried out by Age UK last month found that half of pensioners turned their heating down to save money even though they were not warm enough in the first place.

The statistics from the NHS Information Centre show that three quarters of hypothermia cases are among the over 60s, and the increase in admissions has been the highest among this age group.

In the 2006/07 period, there were 633 hypothermia admissions among the over 60s. This figure rose to 1,396 in 2010/11. This is a rise of 120%.



Public Health minister Anne Milton this week said "We have introduced a Cold Weather Plan to reduce the number of deaths. We have also set up a Warm Homes and Healthy People Fund of £30million to pay for local authority projects to reduce effects of cold weather.”

But who is benefiting from these funds? It certainly doesn’t seem to be our British pensioners.

These figures show the true injustice, and the difference between being a British pensioner and an immigrant in the UK today:

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER: (bearing in mind they worked hard and paid their Income Tax and National Insurance contributions to the British government all their working life) Weekly allowance: £106.00

IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN BRITAIN No Income Tax and National Insurance contribution whatsoever) Weekly allowance: £250.00

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER: Weekly Spouse allowance: £25.00

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN BRITAIN: Weekly Spouse allowance: £225.00

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER: Additional weekly hardship allowance £0.00

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN BRITAIN: Additional weekly hardship allowance £100.00

In the case of the additional weekly hardship allowance, a British old age pensioner is no less hard up than an illegal immigrant, yet receives nothing.

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT: £6,000

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT: £29,900



http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/national/heat-or-eat-british-pensioners-dying-hypothermia