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\n Photo by Hollie Adams\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
\n Photo by Hollie Adams\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
London is hotter than Brazil! And to be factual, London is always hotter than some parts of Brazil, because Brazil has some large mountains and extends thousands of miles into the southern hemisphere (where it is currently winter). But let\u2019s not let facts get in the way of a more general truth, which is that Britain is sometimes\u00a0hotter than Africa<\/a>! It\u2019s also sometimes\u00a0colder than Moscow<\/a>! And that is how weather works. But the important point is that when it\u2019s\u00a0colder than Norway<\/a>\u00a0(assuming Norway is having a relatively warm spell),\u00a0some people get free money. Should a similar system not exist for the summer?<\/p>\n The Winter Fuel Payment is a tax-free \u00a3200 that has been given to all pensioners each winter since 1997. Winter Fuel has a nice ring to it; it suggests a puffing, red-cheeked septuagenarian carrying an armful of logs through the snow, and some bureaucratic Wenceslas stopping to cheer them along with a nice little cheque. It is a benefit some pensioners do sincerely need. But millions of other recipients don\u2019t need it, and in a country that is forecast to spend \u00a3175bn on pensioners\u2019 benefits this year (compared to, for example, \u00a35bn in benefits for children), there is an argument that it might not be the best use of the country\u2019s funds. But when the government tried to remove it from all but the poorest pensioners, it met with furious opprobrium from the wood-burning classes and was forced into a U-turn that will cost \u00a31.25 billion\u00a0 a year. Labour\u2019s own backbenchers insisted the payment was necessary, having been horrified by the effect that means-testing the payment had on their party\u2019s performance in the local elections.<\/p>\n But now it\u2019s hotter than some parts of Australia, probably, and this suggests a policy idea: having decided that the nation\u2019s pensioners \u2013 more than three million of whom live in a household with assets over \u00a31,000,000 \u2013 really do need an extra \u00a3200 in the winter, those who argued for a universal Winter Fuel Payment should now consider whether a summer air-conditioning subsidy is also needed.<\/p>\n After all, hot weather is effectively a wealth tax. The employed may spend their days in air-conditioned offices (or the sea, if they\u2019re a marine biologist). Where do retirees go when it\u2019s baking, and they\u2019re not on holiday? Sainsbury\u2019s\u00a0or Waitrose, of course \u2013 both are Baltic at this time of year. But the extra time one spends gliding their deliciously cool aisles adds up to a\u00a0lot\u00a0more shopping. At home, Victorian houses are notoriously poorly insulated, and the garden must be hosed daily. The cheapest Dyson fan is \u00a3250. Fever-Tree is \u00a32.25 a bottle. Why isn\u2019t the triple lock taking all these extra expenses into account?<\/p>\n It\u2019s not much to ask. Pensioners who have paid their way through society, or feel that they have, are surely entitled to a Summer Cool Payment of \u00a3200 per household, or \u00a3400 if they have to use the Central Line. Just \u00a3200 could pay for a month\u2019s supply of Evian facial spray, a pair of linen trousers and one of those neck fans that looks like a big pair of headphones.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not like the increasingly extreme weather caused by climate change is in any way the fault of today\u2019s retirees, is it?<\/p>\n
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