Voices: ‘Not a handout’: Readers reject plans for rich pensioners to trade state pension for OBE

A think tank's call for wealthy pensioners to be offered an OBE in exchange for giving up their state pension for three years has provoked a backlash from Independent readers. Compass, a Labour-aligned pressure group, urged new prime minister Andy Burnham to introduce the ‘pensions sacrifice’ honour as part of a wider set of proposals, framing it as a way to ease pressure on the public finances . But our community isn’t convinced. Many argued the state pension is something they have earned through decades of national insurance contributions, not a handout to be traded away, and that trying to buy it back with an honour only cheapens the honours system itself. Others suggested the government look elsewhere for savings – from benefit fraud to alternative pension reform. Here's what you had to say: Stop treating pensioners as easy targets As a matter of principle, I would not voluntarily give up a penny of my state pension. Given the choice, I would make it very clear where they can stick the OBE. I have paid national insurance and taxes all my working life on the understanding that I would receive a pension when I retired. Whether I can afford to live without it is beside the point. The state pension is something I have earned through years of contributions, not a means-tested handout. If the government wants to cut welfare spending, there are far better places to start. Tackle benefit fraud, deal with people of working age who could work but choose not to, and look at a system where some households can receive more in benefits than many people earn by working. Stop treating pensioners who have paid into the system for decades as the easy target while continuing to hand money to people who have contributed little or nothing. When governments spend taxpayers’ money on groups they hope will repay them at the ballot box, it starts to look less like welfare and more like political bribery. BeamMeUpScotty I paid for my parents' and grandparents' pensions Cannot believe I’m reading this. I paid for my parents’ and grandparents’ pensions, and the generations following me will pay for mine. It’s the system we were signed up to , and we had no say in the matter. Unfortunately there was no option to pay my state pension contribution into a personal fund, although fortunately I did have a personal pension plan running as soon as I started work.