"Pensioners are suffering because they spend a higher proportion of their income on those items that are rising fastest - while the purchasing power of their state pension continues to decline. The number of older people in poverty is higher now than five years ago and things look set to get worse.
"People of all ages will ask why should we bail out City fat cats who have brought the economy to its knees and now want a bail out from tax-payers, while pensioners freeze and go hungry.
"Nearly three million pensioner households already spend over 10% of their income on energy and are already living in fuel poverty. In Scotland, where the winters can feel colder than Siberia, keeping warm is the number one concern of many older people. But the rising costs of household bills basics like heating, food and council tax, mean millions more older people could be using as much as 70% of their income just to keep their house warm and eat a decent meal. That doesn't leave very much at the end of the week to enjoy life," George Henderson will say.
"It's time the government got its priorities right, Use the growing surplus in the national insurance fund to pay everyone a decent pension, above the poverty line of GBP 151 a week and ensure that it continues to rise in line with inflation or earnings, whatever is the greater. If they do not, then the harsh reality is that many pensioners simply cannot afford to survive," George will add.
According to the National Pensioners Convention, official poverty figures show that some 2.5m (23% of the pensioner population) are living on less than GBP151 a week (the DWP official poverty level for a single person).
Up to 61% of all pensioner couples have an annual income of GBP15,000, while 45% of all single pensioners live on just GBP10,000 a year. Poorest single pensioners saw their real incomes drop by 4% last year.
