Sir – As a committee member of the Oxford Pensioners Action Group (OXPAG) may I use these pages to reach the ‘silver haired’ readers of your papers.

OXPAG will be having its quarterly meeting later this month in Oxford Town Hall to which all retired and those approaching retirement are invited. The group is affiliated to the umbrella organisation for senior citizens of the NPC (National Pensioners Convention), and is urgently in need of fresh members.

Those reaching retirement are the fastest growing sector of the population yet their needs and expectations are routinely ignored by all leading politicians and their parties.

Ask yourselves why the UK state pension is amongst the lowest of all EU countries for a reason as to why you should become a member of OXPAG.

If you don’t need the State pension that’s fine but then ask yourselves why private sector pensions have almost disappeared thanks to Gordon Brown’s £5bn tax credit raid back in 1997 for another reason as to why you should become a member of OXPAG. Only through increased membership and collective action will this situation be reversed. So, please come along to OXPAG’s meeting at 2pm on Tuesday, January 26, in Oxford Town Hall.

Timothy J. Oates, OXPAG committe member, Abingdon