I’m 67 and being bankrupted by the summer single tax

Here we go again. Families, families, families. The Government’s Great British Summer Savings drive, aimed at… yes, families and kids.

Whoopee! The country’s procreators par excellence will be able to enjoy cheaper children’s meals in restaurants, tickets to cinemas and theatres, and entry to a whole host of other attractions when, over the summer, VAT will temporarily be cut to help reduce the cost of days out.

But not for me – again. A single pensioner who benefits from nothing other than a cost price funeral plan if I book early to avoid disappointment.

What do I get as a single person? Nada. As per usual. Even though single people have no one to share their bills and rent or mortgage with, we get minimal help with the cost of living. With council tax, for example, we get screwed with just a 25 per cent reduction.

Why are there never any breaks for single, childless people? At 67, I’m still working hard and, like many others, helping hold up the economy and am no drain on the state. Yet when it comes to handouts, we get absolutely nothing. It’s absurd that we tax people based on their individual and not household income.

The singles tax stays with you for life. A single pensioner would need £805,000 in their pension pot (on top of the full state pension), according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, an industry body – a couple would need only £455,000 each to have the same level of comfort.

Yes, I get it. Families need support – but so do the rest of us, and singles (especially older singles) come bottom of the list when the Government seeks to improve people’s lives.

Take Keir Starmer’s efforts to restore the Erasmus education exchange scheme, which in 2027 will ease young people’s movements between EU countries. He’s completely ignored the fact that older people want to travel and work abroad, too. I’m someone who travels a lot and have lived in several places in the EU, but now, restricted to the 90/180 day rule post-Brexit, can’t. The only way to be able to do it is to live in an EU country with a visa, but even then, their rules will still limit your stay.

At 67, I would welcome the opportunity to broaden my education, see new countries and travel extensively. But now such blessings are, yet again, being bestowed only upon the young.

I love seaside funfairs, but the cost of rides nowadays makes them prohibitive. Are rides per se being reduced, but only for children? These days, I can barely afford an ice cream, so how about giving me a cost price ticket, too?

Then there are holidays – one study found solo travellers pay nearly 90 per cent more than people travelling in a couple. So often, there’s little or no reduction on the price of a cruise, hotel room or villa if you’re a solo traveller. Nearly every wine tour and boat excursion I’ve looked at for this coming summer in Europe is for a minimum of two people and, quite simply, you pay double if you want to go it alone.

I’m not anti-children, but it’s hard not to be frustrated when this summer, they’ll be having a ball as your coffers get drained. Short of trying to blag a free bus ride or spin on the Waltzer by wearing a back to front baseball cap, it looks like I’ll be staying home this summer, single and broke.