THE power of the internet is being harnessed by a retired technician from Edinburgh to drum up support for a campaign to restore the basic state pension’s link with earnings.

George Baird, 68, has set up a website on which he calls for fellow pensioners to vote against Labour at the next election unless Parliament boosts the weekly basic state pension by about £30.

The state pension, currently worth £75.50 week for a single person, has steadily fallen in value compared with earnings since the former Conservative Government severed the link with pay in its social security reforms of 1980. Instead, the basic state pension has risen in line with inflation.

Mr Baird, who used to work at the Edinburgh College of Arts, decided to air his grievances on his internet site — www.pensionersawake.co.uk — after seeing MPs vote themselves a generous increase in pay and pensions.

Although Mr Baird describes himself as “not a political person”, his website calls on pensioners to unite and demand a reverse of the Social Security Act of 1980. He asks pensioners to vote against the Government at the next election and to write in protest to the Prime Minister’s office.

Mr Baird, who intends to provide regular updates about his campaign in his online newsletter, the Zimmer Surfer, says that about 20 per cent of the elderly in the United States have access to the internet. If just half the number have similar access in the UK, then that is more than a million people.

“I would like to write to all pensioners, but I cannot afford to do that. However, the internet allows me to get my message across,” says Mr Baird, who is also seeking advertisers and sponsors for the website. The site also has a copy of the letter he sent to Tony Blair.

Many on the Left of the Labour Party have long argued for the restoration of the basic state pension’s link with earnings; none more so than the late Baroness Castle of Blackburn. But Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has sought instead to improve the poorest pensioners’ lot through a system of additional state benefits and guarantees.

When the basic state pension’s link with earnings was cut, the weekly payment represented 23 per cent of average male pay. Today it is worth just 16 per cent, according to research presented to Parliament. If the tie with earnings had remained, the basic state pension would be £105.70.

The National Pensioners Convention (NPC), a federation of groups representing up to two million of the elderly, has also campaigned for a boost to the value of the pension. While the Chancellor has pledged that the poorest will receive at least £100 a week through the minimum income guarantee, NPC says that a universal, non-means-tested benefit should be everyone’s right.

Neil Duncan-Jordan, a director of the NPC, says that more than 700,000 pensioners, many of whom are the most vulnerable members of society, have failed to claim the minimum income guarantee despite their eligibility. “We have told the Government that its system is not working. We need to build a consensus for a universal right to a living pension,” he says.

The NCP, which on Monday will hold a rally in Westminster to protest at the erosion of the basic state pension, says that the latest estimates suggests that it would cost between £10 billion and £15 billion to restore the pension’s value. It adds that the National Insurance Fund is in surplus to the tune of £18.7 billion.

About 3,000 pensioners are expected to attend the rally, which will start at 10am with the laying of a wreath at the Cenotaph. Those interested in attending can find details on the NCP’s website at www.natpencon.org.uk. Mr Baird can be contacted through his website at www.pensionersawake.co.uk, or by e-mail at gechba@aol.com.

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  Richard Miles, Deputy Personal Finance Editor of The Times, this week received the Award for Achievement of Excellence in National Newspaper Financial Journalism from the Investment Management Association, the organisation that represents the fund management industry.