Return to Rationing

In September 2008 The Royal British Legion joined forces with the national older persons' charity, Age Concer (now known as Age UK following its merger with Help the Aged) and launched a campaign aimed at increasing the incomes of older people living in poverty.

On 25 February 2009, a campaign petition, with some 25,000 signatures, was handed in to Number 10 by The Royal British Legion's National President, General Sir John Kiszely. We used the hand-in to call for the Government to commit to rebranding Council Tax Benefit as a rebate by the next general election.

Thanks to your support the legislation has now been passed to ensure that the Government will make this important change.

The Legion is doing its bit to ensure that poverty among older veterans is tackled through its 'Time to do your bit' campaign. Find out how you can do your bit.

Why we are running this campaign

We are campaigning to increase the incomes of older people living in poverty.

38% of ex-Service pensioners report an income below the minimum required for healthy living.

Many have been forced, through poverty, to ration everyday essentials, similar to their experiences during and after the Second World War.

The Royal British Legion and Age Concern are campaigning to increase the incomes of older people living in poverty. Legion research has shown that a significant number of older members of the ex-Service community live on low or very low incomes. The Minimum Income for Healthy Living is £7,072 per annum for a single person and £11,200 for a couple. A recent Ipsos MORI survey on behalf of the Legion found that 38% of veterans, their spouses and/or widow(er)s reported an income below these levels. 

Background information

One of the major focuses of our campaign is the call for Government to rebrand Council Tax Benefit as a 'rebate' and is detailed in our Campaign Briefing.

For a summary of the Return to Rationing? campaign as a whole, please read our original Campaign Summary.

And the full details of the campaign are available in our Return to Rationing? Policy Statement.