£10,000 gift proposed for young people; tax urged for pensioners  

For a long time now, there has been a gap between pensioners, growing ever better off, and younger folk who cannot seem to make any significant financial progress.

Old age pensions have increased year by year and the seniors have taken full possession of their homes, now vastly more valuable than when they started their mortgage payments years ago.

But the soaring cost of housing, and in many areas their unavailability, means many younger people cannot afford to buy homes for themselves, while their pay is no higher than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Couples, especially residents of London, complain that most of their disposable income goes on renting accommodation.

INCOMES

Experts have now made a series of startling suggestions as to how to close the gap, including paying £10,000 to all young people at the age of 25 and taxing pensioners more.

The research and policy organisation, Resolution Foundation, said the contract between young and old in Britain had “broken down.” Chairman Lord Willetts said that without remedial action, young people would become “increasingly angry.” It was essential to help people on low and modest incomes.

The Foundation said the proposed windfall at 25 would help younger people pay for a deposit on a home, start a business or improve their education and skills. As for those aged over 65, they should be required to pay increased national insurance contributions, raising £2.3 billion for the hard-pressed National Health Service.

COURAGE

Most pensioners are concerned about the demands of healthcare as they grow older, including the costs of possibly living in a care home. Speaking as one of that generation, the writer of this article would not object to paying extra money to the NHS.

The Foundation calculated that a further £5 billion could be raised by abolishing inheritance tax and replacing it with a lifetime limit of £125,000 before taxes.

The question for old and young alike is whether any government will have the courage to propose legislation which would involve taxing pensioners more. Efforts to increase taxes on the self-employed have failed when put to Parliament and keeping pensioners onside has always been a concern for governments of whatever colouration.

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Davide Bucheri, 25, asked a student intern for her telephone number; politely, she refused. In revenge, he raided her social media platforms, extracted a number of her photographs and uploaded them alongside pictures of women in pornographic poses.

He then revealed the existence of the photos to his bosses at the M&G investment firm in London where they both worked, he as a highly paid counsellor earning £44,000 per year with a bonus in 2016 of £6,000.

GHASTLY

At Westminster Court, Bucheri, an Italian from Bologna was convicted of harassment and was jailed for 16 weeks and ordered to pay his victim £5,000 compensation. He was also billed £930 in costs.

Judge Richard Blake said, “This is a 21st century sort of revenge in that you invoked the powers of the internet. She will live for evermore with the fear that someone will google her name and some ghastly website will come up.”

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They have opinion polls here for the oddest reasons, but I have to admit they produce intriguing peeks into people’s lives and viewpoints.

The latest poll I have seen asked 2,000 people what was the most magical moment in their lives. Answers included getting married, having a baby, buying their first home, the first serious kiss and hearing someone say, “I love you, too.”

THE WINNER

There were also some people who thought that getting their first pay packet and passing their driving test were their magic moments, which seems to suggest a somewhat barren quality in how they have lived.

The winner? Hearing your child’s first word.

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Trenton McKinley, aged 13, from Alabama, sustained serious head injuries in a road accident and while he was unconscious thought he was in heaven.

“I was in an open field, walking straight,” he said. “There’s no other explanation but God.”

Any miracle here might be the boy himself. He had seven skull fractures and his doctors proposed switching off his life support and donating his organs to five children who needed transplants.

SLOW RECOVERY

His parents agreed and signed the paperwork, but only hours afterwards, their son showed signs of awareness.

Trenton is now going through a slow recovery process.

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A man walks into a bar looking sad. “What’s wrong?” the barman asks. “Well,” says the man, “my wife and I had a fight and she said she wouldn’t speak to me for a month.” “So what’s so bad about that?” Said the customer, “The month ends tonight.”

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