Clegg calls for state pension benefits linked to wealth

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Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called for state pension benefits to be means-tested in a move which would see wealthier older people having to pay for certain services currently available to them free of charge.

Clegg told the BBC that richer elderly people should give up their pension age benefits, such as free TV licenses and bus passes, to help the government reduce the deficit. The government has announced it will implement a universal state pension of around £150 per week from 2015 in an attempt to eradicate means-testing from the complicated present system. However, Clegg said the 30 additional benefits pensioners get, regardless of wealth, should only be available to poorer pensioners. "We should be asking millionaire pensioners to perhaps make a little sacrifice," he said. The T...

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