THE Island’s senior citizens are being rallied to attend a meeting to show their feelings about the soaring cost of living ahead of the elections.
The Senior Citizens’ Association has arranged a meeting at the Communicare Centre in St Brelade on Thursday afternoon to allow pensioners to let politicians know what they think about rising prices and the way the Island is being run.
The association is the campaigning arm of the charity Age Concern and its chairman is Daphne Minihane (pictured).
She wants as many of the Island’s elderly people as possible to come to the meeting so they can show what they really think about difficulties they are facing.
Among the topics to be discussed will be what the audience think of the States. Today the wholesale price of milk went up by 5p and there is to be an above-inflation increase in the price of bread before the end of this month.
On top of that, fuel costs have rocketed and large hikes in coal prices were announced last week. Mrs Minihane said that the elderly were the people who really felt the pinch, as they lived on limited incomes.
Article posted on 7th October, 2008 - 3.00pm
17 Article Comments
In order to qualify to be a politician you have to be able to turn a deaf ear to the needs of the electorate, something most politicians do on a frequent basis!!!
is it not enough that they get vouchers from the millionaires and are mainly better off than young families?
Best of luck to them. We are currently wasting 35 grand + per politician on this island when they are all hopeless! I’m sure all that money could be better spent going to the OAP’s!
I remember a time when the politicians of Jersey didn’t get paid anything! They did their job for the love of their island. How about we go back to that way of dealing with our government?
Rather ageist i find!
Plenty of young people getting less than 3oo pounds a week yet no hand outs for them.
Yet they are suppossed to work hard to support the old.
The way things are going when the young reach retirement age they will not even get a proper pension due to the shortfall plus the fact its unlikley that there will be a santa claus figure like Mr kirsch to help that generation out.
It is time for Daphne Minihane to run for Deputy.
She will have to do a bit for the young ones as well and the oldies might keep her on track.
Some of the current senatorial candidates have honoured none of their manifesto promises from last time round!
I do wish them luck but at the same time wish that there was an organisation like age concern which looked out for the needs of young families as well. Times are hard for young and elderly alike and as all young families are likely to have an elderly relative I would hope we could all stand together rather than divided. It is time the politicians showed some consideration for ALL islanders who are struggling through no fault of their own not just one specific group who happen to have a spokeperson !
If you’d been to the hustings you would have heard the GST6 telling everyone that GST is the fairest tax possible as the charge is spread evenly. They say (quoting Sarah Ferguson - she repeats this every time) that the people that pay more are those that spend more. It hasn’t occurred to them that people spend more because they have larger families! We have a new Chief Minister in waiting who believes that you can clothe your child for £150 a year. No, it’s not just the OAPs that are struggling to make ends meet but it is disgraceful that OAPs have to stage a protest in this day and age. So if GST and other States decisions haven’t affected your standard of living, think about other people before you place your vote. Things can only get worse if we don’t vote in new people - but please make sure they are not going to vote for Terry Le Sueur to be our new Chief Minister - ring them up and ask them outright and if they won’t say a definite “no” then cross them off your list.
That’s right oldies, get out there and wave your zimmer frames in disgust! Pelt any attending politicians with Wurthers Originals and tubes of Savlon.
Oh dear, not good for the candidates standing who are currently sitting(? for some reason I like that).
The silver vote is usually regarded as the most reliable to cast their votes - and usually happy to keep the status quo because they recognise them.
Not only have the states alienated themselves from the general public, they now have the silver revolt to deal with.
Is anyone actually satisfied with the performance of our government (except the Council of Ministers and a few of their friends)
Well done Daphne and Senior Citizen troops - Fantastic - I applaud you all for continuing to have a go at the establishment. It appears that our older generation are more gutsy and switched on when it comes to fighting for what is right than the rest of the apathetic younger population. We should all take a leaf out of our older generation’s book and back the revolt!
Don’t forget, Mrs. Minihane is the one who said some time ago that the majority of senior citizens in Jersey did not want free TV licences. She convinced the States that the preferred option would be opthalmic and dental subsidies.
The take-up was minimal.
However well meaning, she does not speak for all older residents, only those who are members of her organisation.
Nellie,
Who are the GST6 - I certainly won’t be voting for them!
One of them is deff Peter Troy, then there are Sarah Ferguson and Paul Routier I think, someone correct me if I am wrong I can for the life of me remeber who else was on the list by the lights ! basically dont vote for anyone who will vote in Terry le Swear ! unless of course you want him as our next chief minister and want this island to totally go to the dogs ! out with the old in with the new and PLEASE EVERYONE DONT USE ALL 6 VOTES IF YOU DONT WANT TO YOU MAY REGRET IT THINK VERY CAREFULLY WHO YOU WANT TO VOTE IN.
Jersey Taxpayer. The GST6 are :-
Philip Ozouf
Mike Vibert
Alan McLean
Peter Troy
Paul Routier
Sarah Ferguson
Good on the OAPs, there is a lot of moaning in Jersey but not a lot of protesting or anything resembling real action. Most people seem resigned to total apathy, which is fine, but apathy doesn’t bring change.
Where you agree with what this arm of Age Concern are fighting for or not, at least they are fighting!
As a senior citizen - I would not vote for anyone who supports/or recently voted in the States chamber for the building of yet another dreadful incinerator -Particularly so as it is now a well known fact that far better technology is immediately available for a much lower price to minimise the Island solid waste - as offered to Jersey by one of the world’s biggest firms in the business - and who as builders of massive incinerator plants; consider mass burn incineration unsuitable, and too costly in this day and age for small community locations - as is Jersey.
I am a young mum with two small children the current situation is very scarry and the cost of living frightening. I have stood and protested but the problem is even if you protest the current government pay no attantion no matter how many people with Sensible points of view come forward. People have become disenchanted and feel there is no point to giving their opinion this is mainly due to the council of ministers treating us common islanders like a bunch of simple minded folk who dont know what is best for them - Lets hope the election results give them the wake up call they deserve!!!