Letter: Welfare in a State

Throughout your leader ('Welfare in a state', 27 June) you talk about the old-age pension as though it were some kind of charity dispensed by the state. The majority of pensioners paid for their pensions with heavy and burdensome contributions throughout long working lives. Some contrived to save some money, others didn't. Is your suggestion that those who saved should now be penalised by losing their pensions?

A Evans, Leeds