New figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) reveal an additional 65,000 individuals, or 50,000 households, received Pension Credit in the first quarter of this year.
Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett, endorsed the figures in front of MPs during Question Time yesterday, saying as of March, close to 3.29 million people received the government pension benefit, designed to aid those living below the poverty line. Blunkett’s defence comes days after Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy called for the scrapping of ‘unfair’ means testing, stating: “Means-testing has helped create a pensions system which is in a complete muddle - both complex and ineffective.” Kennedy says millions of pensioners are living in poverty, while many women are left with ‘ins...
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