WHEN are people going to realise that where working class citizens are concerned there is no such thing as a rich pensioner?

Of course, there are bound to be some with a little more than others but owning one's home and maybe a car doesn't count for that much today.

I refer to the letter (October 21) by Ian Dowland who, although he tells us he lives on a pension, doesn't say that he's an OAP.

Having just come through a period of disagreements with the disabled I am hoping he is not living on a pension for this reason. He says pensioners should be means tested to acquire a free bus pass (he also fails to say whether he has one or would have if means tested) but I totally disagree.

Why should a pensioner be penalised for being thrifty during their working life, while the rest again get something for nothing? Surely the one who has worked hard and saved for the future has more right to these things than those who have squandered their cash on extra luxuries all their working lives and end up with nothing in the bank for the proverbial rainy day.

All pensioners should get the same amount from the government upon retirement regardless of other income (works pensions etc) so that just as they had during their working lives there will be some a little better off than others.

Of course, where my idea falls down is the fact that our tight-fisted government is not, and never was prepared to pay pensioners a living sum.

They look at the cheapest possible way through the money maze and come up with ideas such as pension credits for the poorest plus other benefits.

This may seem fair until it meets up with the pensioner who has a couple of bob more than permitted and so loses out, so bringing a poorer person up to their level of income and making their company pension more or less redundant.

That kind of idea is only fair to the person who has gained by it, and unfair to those who haven't.

Free bus passes should be for all pensioners or none at all (plus the fact that the pass should take one further than the city boundary) L A O'BEE, Lordswood, Southampton.