Tony Hatfield's Retired Ramblings

Brass Neck'd Brown

In Lancashire they use the expession "He's got the brass neck for owt! It's an expression almost synonymous with hubris. Gordon Brown in his Mansion House speech showed he has bucket loads of the stuff. How about this load of drivel? "To those who say there should be no change without security, we have to reply, there can be no security without change." What security has been given to our pensioners by Broon's medicine when according to the latest statistics-:

• 2.2m (1 in 5) pensioners live below the official poverty line. The same number as in 1997.
• 1.5m pensioners are malnourished or at serious risk of malnourishment.
• 1.5m pensioners believe their house is too cold in winter.
• Last year, 22,000 older people died as a result of the cold. The same number as in 1997.
• 5m pensioners suffer a long-term illness that restricts their daily activities.
• 7.2m pensioners in England do not have access to free public transport.
• Pensioners save the taxpayer an estimated £24bn a year providing unpaid social care, childcare and volunteering.

Difficult to see French pensioners queuing up for their spoonful? Cheers t

posted by Tony @ Sunday, June 26, 2005