The letter pointing out that the UK's elderly are now the poorest in Europe should produce more outrage (WDP 5/08/04). It seems the three main parties are no longer interested in older people.

At the recent National Pensioners Convention conference in Blackpool, Labour's work and pensions minister Maria Eagle said "We've done a lot for pensioners", the audience not surprisingly laughed and jeered. The Liberal Democrats and Tory ministers were also booed and jeered.

Only Jean Lambert MEP, the Green Party spokesperson on work and pensions, received enthusiastic applause as she delivered the Green Party's pensioner pledge: an end to means-testing, replacing the Council Tax, free local travel passes, restoring the link between pensions and average earnings or inflation (whichever is the higher) and ending tax relief on private pension plans to raise £13 billion a year to put into the state pension.

AGE, the European Older People's Platform, for advancing the cause of older people in the EU has also specifically praised the Green Party. This includes Jean Lambert's work in the EU in attempting to combat age discrimination, highlighting the lack of sufficient healthcare for the elderly and securing EU support for a clause making it illegal for employers to decide redundancies on grounds of age.

Grey support is growing for Greens, not just because of our pension policies but because we want a sustainable future for generations to come.

David Wood, Gloucestershire Green Party