SIR – The recent news that the unemployed will have to spend 35 hours at the job centre looking for a job will be a kick in the teeth for many pensioners.

I say ‘pensioners’ but they are not allowed to be for another five years. Instead these 60 to 65-year-olds have, unless they still have a job, to look for a job they have no chance of getting. If the young find it hard to get a job, why does the government believe these people on the cusp of retirement will find it any easier?

I know some who are now forced to live on unemployment benefit, unable to work because of a long-term illness. They will never get another job, yet they are told they are fit for work.

These people should be allowed to retire gracefully and receive the pension they have worked their life for.

Those with jobs should be able to retire or carry on working if that is what they want.

Many of these people will struggle on benefit and will never survive to collect their pension. The right thing should be done now.

William Oliver, Fairhaven Green, Idle