WITH bus queues set to become much shorter due to the hordes of multi-millionaire pensioners handing back their bus passes, in one clearly thought-out and cogent pronouncement, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith seems set to clear the deficit with the huge savings this idea will garner ("Charity hits out at remarks over pensioners' benefits", The Herald, April 29).
And, with so few people using them, the buses will be easier to keep to schedule and run on time. Well done, sir. Unless, of course, it is another cynical pronouncement whereby a ludicrous, unworkable and divisive comment is being used to start a debate on the means testing and then removal of what is, for many, a lifeline to community, friends and family.
Dr Graeme Finnie,
Balgillo,
Albert Street,
Blairgowrie.
MY elderly mother could just about afford to give up her bus pass, heating allowance and free TV licence as proposed by Iain Duncan Smith and would definitely be willing to contribute to the national finances in this way if George Osborne could persuade some of his well-heeled chums to do their own bit by contributing some of the savings he has made for them through his rather generous decision to reduce top level tax from 50% to 45%. In it together? Hardly.
Steve Inch,
72 Stirling Drive,
Glasgow.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article