Our pensioners quite rightly enjoy a number of benefits and it was of course a Liberal government that introduced the old age pension over a century ago.
As part of the coalition it was a Lib Dem minister, Steve Webb, who steered through the legislation ensuring the triple lock and the introduction of auto enrolment for those workers without an occupational pension.
Great reforms, but with an ageing population there has been an increased focus on whether we can justify or indeed afford the universal payment of benefits such as Winter Fuel Allowance and free tv licences.
There is also need to focus on the issue of free transport concessions.
In my view, the starting point should be that as liberals we are committed to making sure retired people have a good level of support, but we are not about paying money to those who simply don’t need it.
Most importantly of all though there needs to be honesty.
I say this because quietly under the radar the entitlement to Winter Fuel Allowance and free travel has changed.
Both these were previously paid to anyone who had reached the age of sixty, now they are linked to your normal retirement age.
In my case that will be sixty six!
This is reform by stealth, something we should be very much opposed to.
It also goes against good environmental policies aimed at encouraging the use of public transport rather than the car.
So what should future pensioner benefits look like?
Well as a starting point for debate I have set out my proposals below.
1. Free travel – This should be granted to anyone over the age of sixty who has retired from paid work and has an overall annual income below the higher tax rate i.e. 40%
2. Winter Fuel Allowance – This should be paid to pensioners living in the UK who are in receipt of pension credit. It should be paid at a single rate.
3. Free tv licence – This should be granted to pensioners living in the UK who are in receipt of pension credit.
The free travel proposal is environmentally friendly (particularly in London) and takes account of the people who retire from paid work early, with moderate or low incomes.
The Winter Fuel Allowance and free tv licence proposal targets those on the very lowest incomes. It also removes the arbitrary age rules.
This is a set of policies that we can be happy with and more importantly can be sold to the wider electorate.
* David Warren is a lifetime political activist for progressive causes and a liberal.