‘Pensioners must shoulder some of the burden of the spending cuts or their benefits could bankrupt the welfare state, the Government’s social mobility tsar has said.
Alan Milburn, a health secretary under Labour, called on the Government to slash universal benefits for over-65s such as free TV licences and winter fuel payments.
He said it was ‘unfair’ that better-off pensioners were protected from the impact of the cuts while working families with children were bearing two-thirds of the burden of cutting the deficit.
His comments were dismissed as ‘bonkers’ by pensioners’ groups, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who said: ‘Punishing pensioners isn’t going to help a single child achieve more in life.’’
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