Means-testing figures foster further criticism

The Government announced yesterday it has cut the number of pensioners in absolute poverty by 1.9 million in the past eight years, according to new figures.The Department for Work and Pensions says numbers are down from 2.8 million recorded in 1997, to a current figure of 900,000, 100,000 of whom have been lifted out of their poverty standings during the past year.It says relative pensioner poverty is also down by a quarter or 700,000 since 1997, 300,000 of whom where accounted for during last year.Alan Johnson the secretary of State for Work and Pensions says: “The big reduction in poverty...