What they are avoiding is the French are rioting over a retirement age 6 years lower than the UK's for a state pension twice the size of what we get here - we are a G7 country who cares little for its retired
The French pension is around £90 a week more than ours from what I understand, but I don't know what other benefits they recieve like bus passes, etc.
We have always paid our pensioners a pittance, and neither Labour or tory governments over the decades have tried to improve their situation. I remember my mothers parents in the 60's and early 70's complaining it was barely enough to live on, and it's been the same ever since. I remember seeing the queues of pensioners standing outside post offices early in the morning back in the day because they hadn't got a penny in their pockets, and the only reasaon we don't see that now is because the payments are made directly into the recipients bank accounts.
I'm going to receive my pension of £816.16 every 4 weeks from the beginning of June, which, after I have paid my bills, will leave me with little more than £12 a day to enjoy spending. Take food into account, and it's even less.
I'm fortunate I have a private pension so I can carry on living the life I want for a few years yet, but neither political party has addressed the fact that pensioners have been dying for decades from hypothermia in the winter because they can't afford heating or be able to cook a hot meal.
As you say, we don't as a country care about the elderly and it's been the same story for all of my life. I don't know why we accept it because we all grow old, as I'm now finding out, but our attitude towards the elderly hasn't changed since the 60's when my grandparents were scrimping along.
It's beyond political divisions, because none of the parties have tried to change the welfare of our pensioners for the better.