BRITAIN'S elderly have been badly let down by successive Conservative and Labour Governments.

Labour only gave pensioners an insulting 75p in April, then when Gordon Brown handed out a £43 billion pre-election spending spree, he still couldn't find even a penny extra for pensioners!

After a lifetime paying in, pensioners deserve better. With nearly one in three of our pensioners living below the poverty line, the Liberal Democrats will increase all pensions by £5 -- with £10 for the over 75s and £15 for the over 80s, according to Professor Steve Webb MP, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Social Security Secretary.

The Liberal Democrats will also gradually extend entitlement to the full basic state pension to all pensioners, irrespective of National Insurance contributions. (At present only 50% of women qualify for the full basic state pension, compared to 87% of men).

The National Insurance Fund -- the money used to pay state pensions -- is the healthiest bank account in Britain with a surplus of more than £8 billion having been paid in.

The Government can afford to do more to help solve pensioner poverty.

William Hague's Conservatives now say they want more money for pensioners too. But when they were in power they broke the link between pensions and earnings, leaving a single pensioner nearly £30 a week worse off and couples nearly £50 a week worse off.

Now they say they will give pensioners an extra £5 a week -- but paid for by taking away the pensioners' winter fuel allowance, taking away the pensioners' Christmas bonus and taking away free TV licences for the over 75s, leaving a pensioner just an extra 42p!

Support the Liberal Democrat campaign to give all pensioners a real terms increase of at least £5 on the basic state pension right now.

Coun Jon Bamborough,

Maitland Avenue,

Anchorsholme.