A pensioner bond buyer does not a Tory voter make

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/11/pensioner-bond-buyer-does-not-tory-voter-make

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Many pensioners saved from their taxed earnings to ensure a small nest egg to make retirement easier. Then the Bank of England pulled the rug away, leaving savings not even keeping up with inflation. Hardly surprising then if there is a rush to buy the over-65s bonds (Chancellor is using pensioner bonds to buy votes, says free-market thinktank, 9 February).

However, George must not run away with the idea that he has bought our votes. Many of today’s baby boomers were the anarchists, ban the bombers and student occupiers of the 60s. We may have simmered down a bit, but we did not turn into blue-rinse Tories on hitting 65. So thank you, George. I will buy a bond with the few savings I have. Then I shall vote for whichever party offers and delivers good public services, draconian punishments for tax avoiders and evaders, support for the young and vulnerable, renationalisation of energy, water and trains, and an attack on the immoral and amoral behaviour of the corporate business sector.Jane GhoshBristol

• It is extraordinary that the Institute of Economic Affairs chooses to take issue with the coalition for buying votes with pensioner bonds when governments of all parties have been buying votes from the same age group for decades with never-ending house price inflation which provides much larger unearned, untaxed capital gains. Indeed the “landlords taking advantage of £26.7bn a year in subsidies”, in the same edition, must include pensioners who have gone into buy-to-let and outright property speculation because the rate of return is so much higher than for other investments. At 4%, at most, the pensioner bonds are cheaper for the country than continuous house price inflation, which deprives younger families of ready money to spend in the shops after paying rents and mortgages, so improving rock bottom demand for goods and services and avoiding another burst property bubble.DBC ReedNorthampton