Freed from the shackles of elected office, Steve Norris remains an electrifying speaker.
He is also refreshingly honest. So, when I met the 66-year-old former mayoral candidate at a Tory conference fringe on the future of London, he was only too happy to admit how spent his Winter Fuel
Allowance: “I’m amazed by the Chancellor’s annual gift. I spend it on Claret,” he said. In fact, he said that when paid to the wealthy, the allowance is “a complete waste of
money” and “a bribe to older voters”.
I mention this only because the Allowance was referred to again in a different context this week: during David Cameron’s own address. Just take a look at the following passage:
‘You think about tuition fees, and house prices, the cost of a deposit, and wonder how our children will cope. Of course, government can help – and this one is.
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