Edinburgh North & Leith MP Deirdre Brock has called for the UK government to rethink the accelerated timetable for pension change. The local MP’s call comes as the SNP launch a report into the impact of state pension age changes on women born in the 1950s.
Ms Brock is a supporter of the ‘Women Against State Pension Inequality’ (WASPI) campaign which calls for transitional arrangements for the women worst affected by the changes. The independently commissioned research considered and costed 5 reform options, including returning to the 1995 Pensions Act timetable for increases in women’s pension age.
Ms Brock said: “I support equal pension ages for men and women, but it must be done fairly. The burden should not be unfairly placed on the shoulders of women who have been misled about the age they could retire.
“Around 18,500 women in Edinburgh have had their pension contracts broken by the UK Government, some 2.5 million across the UK. They have been left exasperated by shifting goalposts as they approach retirement, their financial plans shattered, and many facing severe poverty.
“The SNP – the only real opposition at Westminster – has done the work for the UK Government. We’ve provided several costed models to compensate these women, but the fairest one is to go back to the old timetable for reforms. This report proves the UK Government can afford to bring the reforms in more slowly – the only question is, do they have the political will to do so?
“A pension is a right, something we’ve paid for – not a privilege. It’s the duty of the UK Government to do the decent thing for once and sort this mess out.”
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