Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (1)

From The Daily Mail 25 October 2010:

The state pension system is to be given the biggest shake-up since its inception more than 50 years ago. Ministers are planning a simplified payment which will see everyone receive the same amount – around £140 a week, far more than at present.

The proposal, to be detailed in a Green Paper before the end of the year, would benefit women and married couples. It would also end the indignity of means testing and, say coalition sources, will pay for itself, largely by reducing bureaucracy...

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and Pensions Minister Steve Webb are suggesting a new ‘single tier’ state pension which would replace all existing payments. If paid at the expected £140 a week, that would mean an income of £7,280 per year or £14,560 for a pensioner couple...

The payment would be based on citizenship or residency, with British citizens or anyone who has been living in Britain for a fixed number of years qualifying.

From UKIP's Pensions Policy Paper, April 2010:

In summary, the current system is shambolic, with a complicated system of form filling, means testing and requirements to apply for benefits and assistance. Many older people find this process demeaning, complicated and some as a result fail to claim everything they are entitled to. This has the effect of worsening their economic situation. The current system clearly needs a radical overhaul.

UKIP therefore proposes a radical simplification. We feel that every pensioner aged 65 or over, whether single, widowed, married or cohabiting, should have the choice between:

• Continuing to claim their existing BSP/S2P (and various other minor benefits), and;

• Claiming a non-taxable, non-means tested “Citizen’s Pension” of at least £130 per week, equivalent to the current Pensions Credit level (plus value of free TV licence and Winter Fuel Allowance). A couple, who are both over 65, would be entitled to at least £260 per week.

• The important difference between the Citizen’s Pension and The Pension Credit will be its simplicity. It will not be means-tested and will be paid out at the higher of a) £130 per week; and b) the total of an individual’s existing taxpayer funded or public sector pensions (information which the Pensions Service and the various government departments should be able to compile relatively easily), so it will not be reduced if a pensioner (or their spouse or partner) has a private pension or other savings and investment income...

There has been some anger over the perception that recent arrivals to the UK are getting the same entitlements as people who have lived here all their lives. The Citizen’s Pension will therefore also be based on the length of Citizenship. The amount will be reduced pro rata if the claimant has not lived in the UK for forty years prior to retirement.

Spotter's badge: Tim Aker.