SNP warns Tory government not to increase state pension age

by the SNP
Posted on
5 years ago
2 min read

During the 2014 independence referendum the No campaign repeatedly warned Scots that independence was a threat to their pensions.

But a new report has found the UK elderly now suffer the worst poverty rate in Western Europe.

In their report, Pension Reforms and Old Age Inequalities in Europe have warned that the proportion of elderly people living in severe poverty in the UK is five times what it was in 1986 – the largest increase among western European countries.

The Centre for Social Justice, a Tory-leaning think tank chaired by Boris Johnson ally Iain Duncan Smith, has also warned the UK can no longer afford its current pension plan, and has proposed the state pension age should rise to 75 over the next 16 years.

A leading charity, Age Scotland, has warned that increasing the state pension age to 75 will mean many Scots will simply “never retire”. In 2018 it was reported that the UK has the worst pension scheme in the developed world.

Commenting, the SNP’s Westminster Pensions spokesperson, Mhairi Black MP, said:

“Pensioner poverty has been an issue that has been continuously ignored by the Tory government for too long. From the burning injustices facing the WASPI women who have been denied the right to their state pension, to the stripping away of pension credit for the over 75s, this government’s attitude towards its older people is shameful.”

The SNP will always stand up for the elderly. At Westminster, our MPs have been using every available opportunity to support the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign. We have also been vocal in standing up for free TV licences for over-75s. Find out more about what the SNP is doing for our older people.