Tories increase age of state pension

Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has attacked the Tory UK Government for the increase of State Pension age, with independent analysis confirming that this will affect half a million Scots.

In the last week of Parliament, the Tories increased the state pension age to 68 from 2037, seven years earlier than planned.

New figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) show that 550,902 39 to 47-year-old Scottish men and women, born between 6 April 1970 and 5 April 1978, will now be forced to wait a year longer than they expected to get their state pension, after the UK government announced it would bring forward an increase in the state pension age, which wasn't due until 2044.

Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said:

“The Tories purposely went into the General Election failing to tell voters that they were planning on increasing this state pension age. If they had been up-front and honest with people about their plans to raise the state pension age seven years earlier than planned then I’m positive that they would have suffered further losses than what they did.

“Independent analysis now captures the scale of the problem following the Tories increasing the age of the state pension with over half a million individuals living in Scotland affected by these deceptive changes.

“The Tories have a terrible track record when it comes to pensions and the fact the people in their late 30s and 40s will not have to wait longer to receive their state pension is a major blow to many.”